Hiding Scars
by Scarlet Eve
Summary: [COMPLETE] It was a search that began with a book- a search that would lead him to find a lost romance. But beneath it all, the scar still shows. "With a finger, he traced the line of the jaw of the girl in the picture. "She looks like Relena," Heero said absently." Rated for language and adult themes later.
1. Chapter 1

Hiding Scars

Chapter 1

Hilde Maxwell hefted her purse up over her shoulder and dodged around an old woman who was walking through the parking lot at an exceedingly slow pace. Hilde wasn't necessarily in a hurry, but she hated when other people slowed down her normal walking speed. Hilde shuffled past some other people and entered the large grocery store. Hilde knew it was always a mistake to try and go shopping on the weekend, since it was always busy, but she had neglected the task all week, and now Duo was complaining about there being nothing to eat in the house. Hilde pulled her list out of her purse and scanned it, skipping over the items in Duo's chicken scratch that she knew they did not need. Hilde grabbed a cart and pushed it ahead of her, dodging weekend shoppers.

As she was walking past the health and beauty aisles, a small display caught her eye. It was a cardboard set up announcing the debut novel of someone named Cassandra Cooper. Hilde stopped beside the display and picked up one of the hardcover books that sat on the display. It was a thick book, covered in a hardcover binding with a dust jacket. The cover of the book stated that the name of the book was The Invitation, written by Cassandra Cooper. The image on the front was of an envelope, which had been sealed with a wax stamp. Hilde set the book down and started to walk away, but she turned back and picked up the book again. She turned it over in her hands and flipped open the back cover. On the back flap, there was a picture of a young woman, with fiery red hair and green eyes. The author biography simply stated that Cassandra Cooper is a debut novelist who resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the United States. Finally, after staring at the book for another minute, Hilde placed it in her cart.

When Hilde got home, she unpacked her groceries and placed the book on the dining room table. Once she had all the items put away in the cupboards and refrigerator, Hilde picked the book back up, settled down on the couch and opened up to the first page.

_My 16th birthday was fast approaching, and it was time to send out invitations._

Duo Maxwell and Heero Yuy had left early that morning to spend some time at the gun range. The two former pilots were feeling rusty and out of shape, so they spent most of the morning and early afternoon shooting apart targets. After they'd had their fill, they packed up their guns and left the range, stopping off at a nearby bar for a beer before heading home.

Duo noticed that Heero seemed quieter than usual, though Duo could tell he had fun at the range. Heero sat at the bar, leaning slightly forward, his hands cupped around the base of his lager glass. He was staring off into space.

"You've been too quiet," Duo commented after a while. Heero shrugged his shoulders. "Though I guess that's not too far from the norm," Duo added as a joke. Heero didn't even blink at him. Duo frowned. "What's going on with you today, man?" Without speaking, Heero took his phone out of his pocket, pressed a button, and slid his phone over to Duo. Duo looked down and saw that Heero's calendar was open on the screen. There was only one event listed for that day. Duo opened the event and read: Relena Disappeared. "Oh..." Duo said, pushing the phone back to his friend. "Why do you remind yourself of that every year?" Duo asked after a moment.

"Because I failed, and in order to better myself, I must always remind myself of my failures," Heero said. Duo looked skeptical.

"I don't think that's how it's supposed to work," Duo said. "Besides, you didn't fail," he added.

"I did. I never found her. For all we know, she's dead," Heero said. Duo squirmed uncomfortably when his normally stoic friend's voice cracked when he said that Relena might be dead. Duo opened his mouth to speak several times, though each time what he wanted to say was not the right thing. Finally, uncharacteristically, Duo decided to say nothing. He simply slapped his hand on Heero's shoulder, then went back to drinking his beer.

Hilde was halfway through her book when her phone rang. She didn't bother to look at the phone, but pressed the button to answer and held it up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey babe," Duo's voice was on the other end of the line.

"Oh, hey. How's it going?" Hilde asked, her eyes still on her page.

"Good. We just stopped for a beer after the firing range. I asked Heero to come over for dinner. He's have a rough day," Duo said.

"Oh?" Hilde stopped reading. "Why?"

"He apparently reminds himself every year that Relena disappeared, and today is the day, four years ago, that she went missing. Remember?"

"Oh my goodness," Hilde said quietly. She lowered her book down into her lap. "That's right, that was today. He shouldn't be alone."

"Exactly. So we'll be home in about twenty minutes," Duo said.

"Okay," Hilde replied. They said goodbye and hung up the phone. Hilde set aside her book and stood up from the couch. On the mantle, behind some other pictures, was an old picture, from the first summer after the Eve War, of the whole group, together, on a beach in Europe. Relena and Heero were standing beside each other, and if Hilde looked closely, she could tell that they were holding hands. It always made her smile. She set the picture back and turned around, reflecting.

It had been Relena's 18th birthday party, a lavish event planned mostly by her friends. It had been around midnight, when Relena was thanking everyone for coming and celebrating her birthday with her, when the gun shot rang through the large ballroom. Chaos ensued, and Relena had been hit in the arm by the bullet. She immediately crouched down to the ground, covering her arm with her hand. Heero had bolted up onto the small raised platform and was shielding her from any other attack. The Preventers and the police took over, trying to calm the crowd.

Relena was taken to the hospital and had a few stitches in her arm, but she was otherwise okay. When she was released from the hospital, she went home, and no one saw her for a couple of days. She resurfaced for a couple of meetings, but then exactly a week after she was attacked at her birthday party, she was gone. Her home was left as it was, with nothing missing that anyone could tell. None of her close friends, family or neighbors knew what happened to her, as no one had talked to her after she went home from the hospital. A search was done to try and recover her, but without leads, the search was difficult, and was called off after two months.

Hilde knew that Heero was devastated by the disappearance. He went into a sullen mood for about two years afterwards, disappearing himself, re-appearing for a little while, then going off on his own again. It was only recently that Heero got an apartment near Duo and Hilde's home, and has been spending time with the couple. They never asked him where he'd been or what he'd been up to. They simply accepted him back into their lives and tried to keep him as occupied as possible.

Hilde shook her head sadly, picked up her book off the couch and went into the kitchen. As she prepared dinner, she kept the book propped open so she could read while she cooked. The story was engaging, and the voice of the author was smooth and beautiful. Hilde found herself getting lost in the story over and over again, and completely forgetting the world around her.

While she was cooking, Heero and Duo arrived at the house, grabbed a few beers and disappeared into the garage, where Duo was restoring an old car. Hilde continued to read, and as she neared the end, the story became more and more tragic. As she was finishing dinner and laying out plates on the table, she was crying. Heero and Duo appeared in the dining room just as she was reading the last paragraph.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Duo asked. Hilde closed the book and looked up at the two men.

"This book- it just had a really sad ending," Hilde said, setting the book aside. She wiped away her tears and finished laying out the food on the table. The three of them sat down around the table and began to pile food onto their plates. Hilde couldn't help but continue to speak about the book to the two mostly uninterested men.

"I just can't get over the author's voice in the novel though. It was like I was hearing the story from a close friend, or something," Hilde said. Duo and Heero, who did not often read fiction books, glanced at each other. "You'd just have to read it," Hilde said, sticking her tongue out at her husband. For the rest of dinner, they spoke about light topics, such as upcoming get togethers with other friends and where they might want to go for their annual vacation. Hilde and Duo exchanged nervous glances at each other whenever Heero said something that seemed too dark or suggested him being alone, and they would immediately change the subject.

After dinner, Heero declined to stay longer, and left for his own apartment. Duo and Hilde sat together on the couch, both brooding about Heero and his mood.

"Sometimes I get angry at her for disappearing on us," Hilde muttered. Duo nodded.

"I'm sure she had a good reason for it, if that's what happened. But don't forget that she disappeared on the entire world, and the colonies. Nothing has been normal since," Duo said. HIlde nodded.

"I wish I knew what she was thinking," Hilde said. She got up from the couch and grabbed The Invitation. She opened to the first page and began to read it again.

"Didn't you just finish that?" Duo asked, opting to turn on the television.

"Yes, because it's bugging me that I can't figure out why the voice in this book is so familiar," Hilde said. She kept reading for a few more pages, and at the same time, she was thinking about Relena.

"Relena," Hilde said suddenly.

"What about her?" Duo asked.

"It sounds like Relena!" Hilde said, getting excited. She flipped through a few more pages to some of the dialogue and read it.

"Let me see," Duo said. He took the book from her and flipped back to the first page. He read much slower than Hilde, and after several minutes he only made it to the third page. "I think you're right babe. It does sort of sound like her. You know who we should ask though..." Duo trailed off, setting the book aside and pulling his phone out of his pocket. He dialed a number and waited.

"Who are you calling?" Hilde asked. Duo held up a finger to her.

"Hey Quatre, how's it going?" Duo said into the phone. Hilde nodded, understanding Duo's train of thought. Hilde could faintly hear Quatre's voice through the phone. "Yeah I actually had a favor to ask you, and it's going to sound random," Duo said. He picked up the book. "Go buy the book The Invitation by Cassandra Cooper and read it. Hilde and I have some suspicions about the book, and we wanted your opinion," Duo explained. "Okay great. Just let me know. See ya buddy," Duo said, then hung up the phone. He turned to Hilde. "Quatre is going to get the book and read it. If anyone will know for sure, it'll be him. He's read the most things written by Relena."

Hilde took the book into her hands again and flipped to the back cover to the picture of Cassandra Cooper. The couple looked at the picture.

"If that is her, she looks great as a redhead," Duo commented.

"But why would she come out with this now?" Hilde asked. "What is she doing?" Duo shrugged.

"I have never claimed to understand the mind of a woman," Duo said. Hilde punched him in the arm.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiding Scars

Chapter 2

Heero arrived to his sparsely furnished apartment and unlocked the door. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him, locking it without looking. Out of habit, he did a quick visual sweep of the apartment to ensure that nothing was amiss. Satisfied, he dropped his jacket over a chair and crossed the living room to his couch. He sat down and leaned his head back against it. He stared at the ceiling, the spot he'd stared at for hours and hours whenever his mind would not quiet. He tried to meditate there, but he usually became distracted by thoughts that were impossible to push away. Finally, he pushed himself back up off the couch and paced the living room. Occasionally, his eyes would stray to a bookshelf where he knew he'd hidden a certain picture four years ago.

"Fuck," he mumbled, and stepped to the bookshelf. He picked up a hardcover book and let it fall open. There was the picture. She stared at him from that picture, the smile on her face bright and happy, her face young and youthful, and her eyes glittering in the sun. She was sitting on a bench in her backyard, with her legs crossed in front of her. She had a white teddy bear in her lap, and she was hugging it. Heero had taken this picture of her after giving her the teddy bear a few days before her eighteenth birthday party. Heero reached out tentatively and touched her face on the picture. The hurt and longing welled up inside of him, causing his body to tighten as a response. He snapped the book closed and tossed it back on the shelf. He pressed his hands against his face, heels to his eyes, and tried to erase her face from his mind. Not a day went by where he didn't remember his failure to recover her after she'd gone missing.

He been nearly the last one to know she was missing. After her birthday party, Heero was reluctantly called away for an important mission for the Preventers. Her bodyguard was replaced by someone else for the week. He'd assumed at the time that he would be able to talk to Relena over the phone while he was gone, to make sure that she was alright, but he ended up barely having time to sleep. When he returned to the Preventer office to close up the mission, he arrived in a state of panic. When he tried to question the Preventers running around the office, everyone shied away from him, giving him nervous glances and running. Heero finally stopped Wufei in the hallway and demanded an explanation.

"What is going on?" he asked. Wufei tilted his head and frowned.

"Lady Une didn't call you?" he asked. Heero shook his head.

"No." Wufei sighed and held his hands out.

"You're not going to like what I have to say," Wufei began. Heero narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Why?"

"No one can find Relena," he said after a moment. Heero's stomach dropped and his throat tightened. He stared at Wufei in disbelief for so long that Wufei waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention. "We've already begun searching, but so far, it seems we have literally zero leads," he said. Heero spun on his heel and marched through the building to Lady Une's office. He burst in without knocking. She was standing at her desk with several Preventers and a few men in black suits. She looked up and saw him, and the look on her face told Heero everything he needed to know. Heero threw his bag and files on a chair and stepped up to the desk.

"Fill me in," he stated simply.

He'd been the one to search her home, and it was painful. He could not find anything wrong. Her whole house looked the way it should. He combed it from top to bottom, checking everything. It was almost as if she had dissolved into thin air.

After several weeks, the search became fruitless. There were no leads. Heero had berated and verbally attacked her replacement bodyguard, but it was apparent the man had no idea what happened to her. Heero wanted to kill him for saying, "She called and said she was taking a few days off, so I figured I could just stay home and relax for a while."

Heero tried to get money out of Lady Une to go abroad to search for her, but Lady Une rejected him. He was unable to give her any solid evidence of her whereabouts, and with a tight budget already enforced on the Preventers, Heero had no choice but to give up on Lady Une. He continued to do his own searching over the net, but after four years, he still had nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Heero stopped pacing in his apartment and looked out the drab window over the drab street. He leaned his head against the pane, feeling the coolness against his forehead. Once a year, he allowed a single tear to roll down his cheek.

-

Duo's phone started to ring early the next morning. With a groan, he rolled over, grabbed his phone off the nightstand and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Quatre. I finished that book. It only took me a couple of hours. Do you know anything about this Cassandra Cooper?" he asked. Duo sat up in bed, waking Hilde as well. He put his phone on speaker phone.

"No not really. Hilde just picked up the book yesterday at the store," Duo said.

"What were your suspicions?" Quatre asked.

"That Relena wrote it," Hilde said.

"I agree with you. I knew right away that this was Relena. Even the emails she sent me on occasion before- well, you know, before she disappeared, sounded like this. She's always had a specific way of writing out her sentences in emails and letters. The similarity is unmistakable. I'll send over some of the ones I have saved and you can see for yourselves." Quatre said.

"That's why I asked you to read it. I knew you'd know if it was her or not," Duo said.

"So should we think that perhaps she is still alive somewhere?" Quatre asked.

"It seems more possible now than it ever has," Duo said. "I have been trying to decide if I should have Heero read the book without telling him."

"No, don't do that. Tell him to read it and tell him that you think it was written by Relena. You know that he will do the detective work," Quatre said. "He also won't appreciate you keeping information from him," Quatre added.

"That's true. I'm going to see him today. I'll have him read it," Duo said. "Thanks for helping us out, Quatre," Duo added.

"No problem. Keep me in the loop," Quatre said. They said goodbye and hung up. Duo looked at Hilde.

"This is great," Duo said with a big smile. Hilde nodded. Duo kissed Hilde then jumped out of bed. "We can get our friend back!" Hilde nodded and smiled, but then a sharp realization hit her.

"She probably doesn't want to be found," Hilde said. Duo looked at her, crestfallen.

"What do you mean?"

"She disappeared and didn't tell anyone on purpose, right? She probably wants to stay hidden. She dyed her hair and changed her eye color. What if going after her is what she doesn't want?" Hilde mused. Duo shook his head.

"I refuse to believe that. That girl was head over heels for Heero Yuy, and for as long as she wanted him, she wouldn't leave to get away from him, and from us. It had to be something else. Relena is the strongest person I know. It had to be something horrible for her to take herself out of her life and disappear," Duo said. Hilde shrugged her shoulders. "Either way, we'll figure it out."

-

"This book seems rather girly for my taste," Heero said, holding the book like it was a dirty, smelly sock.

"I really think you should read it though. Hilde, Quatre and I are on to something about this book, and we want you involved," Duo said. Heero raised an eyebrow, then glanced back down at the book. Duo reached across the table and flipped it open to the back cover.

"What?" Heero asked. Duo pointed to the picture. Heero leaned down and looked closely at the picture. With a finger, he traced the line of the jaw of the girl in the picture. "She looks like Relena," Heero said absently.

"That's what we think, anyway," Duo said. Heero looked up at him sharply.

"You think this book was written by Relena?" Heero asked. Duo nodded. Heero looked back down. "Cassandra Cooper," he read from the cover of the book. "And if you're wrong, as you are apt to be?" Duo shrugged.

"Then we haven't really lost anything," he said quietly. Heero stared at him, then back at the book.

"I will read it," Heero said.


	3. Chapter 3

Hiding Scars

Chapter 3

Cassandra Cooper sat on her back deck, drinking iced coffee and reading a novel. Her three year old German Shepherd, Cherry, lay curled at her feet, napping. The day was already getting warm. Cassandra was dressed in a ribbed tank top and a knee length skirt, with her long hair swept up into a bun on the top of her head to help keep her neck cool. She went through the same dilemma every year of whether or not to cut her hair in the summer, when she really loved the length of her hair as it was.

Cassandra set her book down and leaned back in her chair and looked up at the clear blue sky. It was promising to be another beautiful day, and warmer than usual The weather was starting to get warmer after the slightly chillier winter, and tourist season was already beginning, with trickles of people arriving and taking up space in vacation homes and hotels near the beach.

"It might be hard to get to the water today, Cherry," Cassandra said, leaning down to pat Cherry on the head. The dog looked up at her with her brown eyes. "I know, those silly tourists," Cassandra said, scratching Cherry behind the ear. Cherry climbed onto her feet and stretched, then wandered off into the back yard to do her business. Cassandra stood up from her chair and went inside. Her cell phone, which sat on the counter in the kitchen, was blinking. She picked it up and saw that she had a text message from her editor.

_Quiet release went well. Expecting more sales today after the interviews are aired on tv._

Cassandra smiled. She'd worked on her first novel for about three years before she found someone willing to publish it. And it was finally out in stores. There was a copy of the book sitting on her table. Her editor had sent it over after the print run was finished. Everything about it was beautiful, and exactly how she imagined it would be, except for one detail. Cassandra had mused for a long time about the envelope on the cover. She had really wanted the envelope to be ripped in half, but after a year of discussing it with herself, she finally decided to leave the envelope on the cover intact, and sealed.

Cherry walked back through the door from the deck and curled up on her dog bed in the living room. Cassandra flopped down on the couch. She was avoiding the television, as she didn't really like to see herself on TV. She never had. So she opted to stay away from news outlets and magazines for the rest of the week, until they could figure out how successful her novel would end up being.

Cassandra's doorbell rang. She stood up from the couch and went to open the door. Cherry bounded along behind her. Cassandra opened the door and saw her next door neighbor, Milly, standing on the porch.

"Morning girl! I bought your book and read it last night! It was awesome!" she said with a big smile.

"Aw, thanks Milly. I appreciate that," Cassandra said. Milly nodded and stepped into the house when Cassandra stepped back to allow her in. Cherry sniffed at Milly and sat there in front of her until Milly leaned down and scratched her behind the ears. Cherry then went away happy.

"What are you doing today?" Milly asked. Cassandra shrugged.

"Avoiding the TV and newspapers," Cassandra said. Milly nodded.

"Makes sense. The kids wants to go to the beach today. Do you want to come with us?" Milly asked. Cassandra shrugged her shoulders.

"It'll be pretty busy," she said.

"It's busy every day in the summer. Besides, it'll be worse next week when the festival starts," Milly said. The Second Annual VA Summer Bash would be starting next Sunday at nightfall to kick off tourist season officially, and would involve a week of events, parties, food, entertainment and fireworks, celebrating the summer. It was a huge hit the year before, and, as Milly was one of the directors of the festival, knew that it was going to be even bigger. Hotels in the city were booked up completely for the week, and the booking was spreading out to the cities around Virginia Beach.

"It should be fun though, next week," Cassandra said. "My editor might use that as a way to get some more publicity, by having a book signing or something," Cassandra said.

"That would be great. Tell him to call me if he wants to do that. I'll find a place and time for you," Milly said.

"Thanks!" Cassandra said. "Well, let me grab my things and we can head out there," she said. Milly nodded and left Cassandra's house to go pack up her kids for the short car ride to the beach.

-

Heero finished the book in a matter of hours. When he finished, he closed it and set it on the desk beside him. He was certain it was Relena. He was also certain that he may have been the inspiration for the male character in the story, the one who rips up the invitation given to him from the girl. Heero figured that Duo and Hilde must not know about that incident, otherwise they might have realized sooner and with more certainty that Relena had written the book.

Heero turned on his laptop and began searching for Cassandra Cooper. It took him awhile to wade through the novel announcements and interviews before he found some information about her prior to the book being released. True to what the short biography said in the back, her address was listed in Virginia Beach. And that she had lived there for four years, buying up a broken down vacation home and spending a lot of time and money to renovate the home. There was a newspaper article about it. The article stated that many of the vacation homes were not being taken care of, though they were beautiful old homes. Then along comes Cassandra Cooper, who bought one property and fixed it up to live in, then bought several more properties, fixed then up and began to rent them out to tourists during the summer.

Heero looked up the address of Miss Cooper to see if anyone else was registered as living there. He felt a strange moment of relief when he saw that her name was the only one listed as living there. It meant that at least she had not gotten married or anything and was living with another guy. Heero next pulled up a satellite image of her neighborhood. Her home was there, with a red car parked in the driveway. He stared at the low resolution image of the home for a long time. He tried to imagine her living there. He imagined her drinking tea. His cynical mind then imagined her bringing a guy there with her, someone who was not Heero Yuy. Frustrated, Heero closed all his programs on his computer and closed the lid. He stood up and grabbed the book, then left his apartment.

Heero wandered around for a long time, passing by cafes and stores. He began to notice that there were many women reading The Invitation. He even saw several men reading it. He passed by a magazine and newspaper stand, and saw that there was a picture of Cassandra Cooper on the front of a magazine entitled "The Block." Heero picked it up and thumbed through. It looked to be a literary magazine of some kind. He stopped on the page that boasted an "exclusive interview" with debut novelist Cassandra Cooper. Heero paid the young guy at the stand and took his magazine with him to a coffee shop. He ordered a coffee black and sat down to read the interview.

-

Cassandra smoothed her towel out over the white sand and sat down on it. Cherry stood nearby, digging in the sand. Milly and her two children, Riley and Maria, were setting up their own towels next to hers. All around them were tourists. The whole beach area was loud with screams and laughter and talking. Cassandra had exposed Cherry to this type of environment at a young age, so Cherry simply ignored everyone as she dug around in the sand, searching for some treasure.

Cassandra laid down on the towel and spread her arms and legs apart to catch some sunlight. Already, after a few years of living in the area, her skin had taken on a darker color, though not after getting sunburnt first.

"Those guys are staring at you, darling," Milly said, propping herself up on her elbow. Cassandra sat up as well and followed Milly's gaze.

"Oh please, they're like seventeen years old," Cassandra laughed. Milly shrugged her shoulders.

"Honestly girl, when was the last time you had some adult fun?" Milly asked with a wink. Cassandra didn't answer. "Oh Cass," Milly said, trailing off.

"What? I didn't say anything," Cassandra said. Milly lowered her voice.

"Are you a virgin still?" Milly asked.

"It never came up," Cassandra replied with a shrug.

"You poor thing," Milly said. "Well, maybe we can find someone for you at the festival this year. Heaven knows you deserve a good lay," Milly said with a laugh. Cassandra playfully slapped her friend on the arm.

"Oh come on. Don't be so dirty," Cassandra said. Luckily, Riley called out to his mother and Milly turned away from Cassandra. Cherry returned to Cassandra's side and laid down beside her.

"We don't need a man, do we Cherry?" Cassandra asked the dog, who simply stared at her, head tilted. Cherry licked Cassandra's face, then laid her head down to take a nap.

-

Heero had returned to his apartment after an informative read of the interview in "The Block." He was now searching for a place to stay in Virginia Beach, but because of some festival, the whole city seemed to be booked up completely. He was just at the point of frustration when he came upon a house that had freed up. And to Heero's surprise, it was only a few streets away from Cassandra's house. Heero called Lady Une.

"I need money for some Preventer business," Heero said.

"I wasn't aware that you were on any assignments at the moment," Lady Une said.

"It's not an official assignment," Heero said.

"Then I can't officially give you money, can I?" Lady Une asked, laughing a little.

"I might have found a lead regarding Relena Peacecraft-Darlian," Heero said.

"Excuse me?"

"I think I know where she is," Heero said.

"What do you know for sure?" Lady Une asked.

"Well, nothing actually. But there was a book that was just published and," Lady Une cut him off.

"You are basing this off a book?" she asked.

"You don't understand. The story- it's based on something that happened between Relena and I seven years ago. I think it might have been written by her under another identity," Heero said.

"Sounds like you are grasping at straws," Lady Une said. "I wish I could help you out Heero, but we closed that case about Relena a long time ago." Heero hung up on Lady Une. He immediately called Quatre.

"Heero! It's good to hear from you!" his friend said when he answered the phone.

"And you," Heero said, trying to sound pleasant. "Has Duo told you about that book that he thinks Relena wrote?"

"Oh yes. I read it already. I have strong feelings that she is behind that book," Quatre said.

"You do?"

"Yes, of course. It sounds just like her, and even that picture, well, under the hair color and the fake eye color and the make-up, I think our Relena is hiding under there," Quatre said. "I even watched a couple of interviews with this Cassandra Cooper today on TV. Miss Relena was never very good at disguising her natural movement of her hands and head when she speaks."

"I should have called you before I tried to get money out of Une," Heero mumbled.

"What are you talking about?" Quatre asked.

"I'm going there. I'm going to find her," Heero said. Quatre was silent for a moment.

"I want to come with you," he said at last. "You were looking for money for the expense of traveling and staying there, correct?"

"Yes," Heero said. "I found a place near where she lives, but it's expensive because vacation homes are in high demand right now. There's some kind of festival going on next week," Heero said.

"That's perfect. We'll go for vacation. Invite Duo and Hilde too. It'll be the perfect cover," Quatre said. Heero thought about it for a moment. "Of course, I'll pay," Quatre added, laughing.

"Well that's what I wanted to hear," Heero said. He smiled. An actual smile. "I'll email you this information for the house. You should call right away before someone else gets to it," Heero said.

"Got it. I'll talk to you soon," Quatre said. They hung up the phone. After he sent an email to Quatre containing the information about the vacation house, Heero stood up from his desk and walked into his bedroom. Beside his bed was a picture in a frame, one of the pictures of Relena he couldn't bring himself to hide after her disappearance. The picture showed him standing with Relena in the snow. There were both covered in snow from head to toe, after an intense snowball fight.

"I'm going to find you, Relena," he said to the picture.


	4. Chapter 4

Hiding Scars

Chapter 4_Cassandra looked in the mirror in her bathroom, but the reflection staring at her was not how she knew she looked. The reflection had blonde hair and blue eyes. The large tattoo covering her shoulder was missing. The face in the mirror was younger, too, with less internal scars left by the past. "You can't hide forever." Cassandra turned away from the mirror and tried to run out of the bathroom, but she tripped and fell, her face landing in a puddle of water..._

Cassandra opened her eyes. Cherry was licking her face. "Ugh, okay Cherry, I love you too," Cassandra said, sitting up and pushed her dog's face away from her. Cherry sat down on her haunches and stared at Cassandra. Milly had taken Riley and Maria down to the water to play in the waves. Cassandra sat up and brushed the sand off her arms and legs. Cherry nipped at her.

"Alright, alright," Cassandra said. She attached the leash onto Cherry's collar and led her away from the beach into the pet area, so Cherry could take care of business.

Quatre was able to arrange for the vacation house Heero found to be available for two days before the start of the Second Annual VA Summer Bash, and last for three weeks. The Bash would take place during the last few days of April and into the first couple days of May. It was a long, two week wait until their trip, but finally, Heero, Quatre, Duo and Hilde were able to pack their bags and take their respective flights across the ocean to the Americas.

The four of them met at the Norfolk International airport in Virginia Beach. In strange circumstances, Heero's excitement about the situation was infectious. Everyone was smiling. They made their way through the airport to the car rental area to pick up their car that Quatre had booked for them. They loaded up their luggage in the large SUV and Heero took the wheel with Quatre navigating.

The drive that should not have taken very long took much longer than anticipated, as the traffic was extremely heavy through the entire city. There were many out of state license plates, and many people craning over their steering wheels to look around, clearly confused about where they were trying to go. Heero tried not to be one of those people.

After about an hour of waiting in traffic, they finally arrived at their vacation home. It was a large home in the New England Colonial fashion. Heero pulled into the driveway and the group got out of the car and admired the beautiful place. The house was painted a bright blue with white trim, and though the color seemed too bright, it matched the other houses on the street. Quatre walked up to the front door and found an envelope in the mailbox, which contained all their information for their stay at the home. Quatre unlocked the front door and they filed in.

Everything in the house was clean and looked relatively new. It was spacious and well lit, with many windows catching all the sunlight of the day. They spread out and inspected the rooms, with Duo and Hilde claiming the master suite, leaving Quatre and Heero to their own bedrooms with a shared bathroom. They hauled their luggage out of the SUV and brought it inside to unpack.

Heero could barely concentrate on unpacking his clothes. All he could think about was finding Cassandra Cooper, and that way, finding Relena. Quatre had told him ahead of time to not get too anxious about going to find her. Quatre suggested that she might try to run again if they made it too obvious that they were there. Unable to concentrate, Heero sat on his bed and looked out the window at the sea of other homes in the area.

Once everyone had unpacked and gotten settled in, Quatre told them they he had made reservations at a nice restaurant next to the ocean. He said that if he was going to spend the money on a vacation home, he was at least going to have a vacation. Duo and Hilde agreed with him, but Heero grew more and more anxious as each hour on American soil passed. They drove out to the restaurant and managed to find a parking spot nearby. The place was a large, nautical themed restaurant, with an air of authenticity that many places like it lacked. Quatre gave his name, and they were taken right away to a table on the front porch, which looked out over the ocean. Once they had ordered, Heero excused himself to go to the bathroom. As he weaved through the tables, he overheard a conversation nearby.

"We made one addition to the schedule, which is a book signing by Cassandra Cooper. I spoke with her agent and set it up. She'll be there for about three hours to sign books." Heero glanced around and saw a young woman sitting at a table with many other people. They all had papers and notebooks with them. Heero saw the top of one of the pages that read "Second Annual VA Summer Bash." Heero was starting to look suspicious, so he hurried past the table to the bathroom.

When he returned to the table, he immediately told his friends what he had overheard. "I suppose that would be one way to get in touch with her," Quatre said, taking a sip of his martini. "We are here for three weeks. We don't have to rush," he added.

Heero looked angry for a moment, but he looked down at his hands in his lap. Hilde put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. We can only do our best to get in touch with her and try to find out what happened four years ago," she said. "The most important thing is not to scare her into hiding."

"I just don't think I can go another four years without her," Heero confessed. His friends exchanged sympathetic glances.

The next morning, while everyone else was still sleeping off their jet lag, Heero was up and dressed. It was only 7:30 in the morning. He used his phone to map out walking directions to Cassandra Cooper's house. It was about a ten minute walk. He started on his way.

As he walked, he admired the homes along the street. Many were large and beautiful. Some looked like they were inhabited all year long. As the GPS on his phone told him he was nearing his destination, Heero looked and found her house. It was a large house, with elements of a Victorian style. The red car was parked in the driveway, and there was a woman standing in the front yard, bent over a flower bed. A dog was stretched out next to her in the grass. Heero slowed his stride and inhaled sharply.

The woman had braided her long, red hair into a single braid, which hung down over her shoulder. She wore a tank top and a pair of loose shorts. Her feet were bare. When she turned to pick up a gardening tool, Heero could see color on one shoulder. Is that a tattoo? he wondered to himself. His stomach was fluttering in a way he didn't know it could. His whole body was responding to seeing the woman on the lawn. The years of longing and desire for Relena flooded over him when he caught a glimpse of her profile. His fingers itched to reach for her. His heart ached to hold her in his arms.

He tried to watch her a little longer, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself. But he knew. The way she moved was all too familiar. The way she drew her hand across her brow to wipe away the early morning sweat. The way she smiled when her dog rolled around, scratching her back on the grass. Cassandra stuck her hand in the pocket of her shorts and drew out a cell phone and answered the call. She turned back to the dog, patted her thigh and called out, "Here, Cherry," then walked into her house with the dog behind her. Heero's heart nearly stopped at the sound of her voice after four long years.

Heero made a circuit around the block and headed back to their vacation home, his mind reeling. She had been right there. It was so obviously her that he wanted to run back to her house and pound on her front door. But the rational part of his mind knew this would be a terrible idea. So he settled on going back to the house and drinking coffee instead.

After everyone had finally woken up, much of the day was passed with sightseeing and shopping. Heero trudged along with his friends, trying to keep a positive mood, but inside, he was dying to go back to her house and see her. He didn't tell his friends that he had walked to her house that morning. He knew they'd be mad. So instead he followed along, stopping in stores and people-watching the other tourists in the area.


	5. Chapter 5

Hiding Scars

Chapter 5

Cassandra woke up in a panic late on Sunday morning. She'd had the dream again that she was looking at her younger self in the mirror. Cherry lifted her head off her paws and stared at Cassandra. "Sorry, girl," Cassandra mumbled and scratched Cherry's head. Cherry laid her head back down onto her paws and closed her eyes. Cassandra kicked the sheet off of her and climbed out of bed. Now that she was awake, she was pretty excited for the day, since she would be spending it partying with her neighbors, then heading down to the beach at dusk to watch the opening night fireworks. Milly promised that the fireworks show for the opening and closing nights would be even better than the previous year. Cassandra stretched her arms up over her head and walked to the window. She pushed aside her curtains and looked down at the street. Milly and her husband Paul were already outside, setting up barriers and tables. Other neighbors were coming out of their houses, getting some last minute yard work done, or setting up volleyball nets in their front yard.

Cassandra took a quick shower, brushed and braided her hair, then pulled on a sundress. When she leaned into the mirror to apply her eye makeup, she noticed that her roots were beginning to show again. She'd have to make an appointment to get her color touched up. She applied eyeliner, eyeshadow and mascara, then headed down to her kitchen. Cherry finally got out of the bed and followed her downstairs. Cassandra made a glass of iced tea and went outside.

She was greeted in several directions by different neighbors. She tried to wave to everyone. Cherry, who had trotted outside, dashed off to greet some of her dog friends. Cassandra walked over to Milly and Paul.

"How is everything going?" Cassandra asked.

"Good! Everything is set for tonight, so I get to relax and have fun!" Milly said. Paul smiled and wrapped an arm around his wife.

"You deserve it, honey," he said. Milly smiled and they kissed quickly. Cassandra smiled at them.

"Well, all my food is done and ready to go," Cassandra said. "So if you need me to do anything..." she said, holding a hand out to indicate to let her know.

"Sure. And if you wander around, some of the others might ask you to help them," Milly said. Cassandra nodded and moved off down the street. Cherry had returned to her side. Cassandra was greeted by several other neighbors, and eventually got pulled into a kitchen to help with cooking. She went gladly.

Soon, the entire street had poured out of their homes, along with friends and family from other areas. The food was placed on a long line of tables, and people were everywhere, drinking and eating and playing. Cassandra had brought a blanket out to her front yard and was sitting on it, eating and drinking from a glass of vanilla flavored vodka and a cola. Milly, Paul and their two children soon joined them. Someone brought their stereo out to the curb and was blasting music. Everyone was having a good time. The dream that had troubled Cassandra that morning was all but forgotten.

The party raged all through the afternoon and into the early evening. Cassandra had drank a lot, passed out in her front yard, woke up, then drank some more. She walked along the tables of food, picking at the leftovers with a fork. Before long, the sun was beginning to sink into the horizon. Milly and Paul joined up with Cassandra, and along with the rest of the neighbors, began the walk towards the beach for the fireworks show. Cassandra and Milly had snuck bottles of soda with vodka in them, like they were teenagers again. It was a long walk, but they finally made it to the beach. The group found a spot in the sand to sit down and wait for the fireworks.

As Cassandra sat in the sand, she looked around at all the tourists. She heard a loud shout nearby, and she turned. She thought her heart stopped.

A group of familiar faces were walking nearby. They were laughing and joking while searching for a place to watch the fireworks. Cassandra put a hand to her chest and could feel her heart facing. One face in particular caught her eye, the dark brown hair, the deep blue eyes, the well built frame, that had gotten taller since she'd last seen him, dressed in shorts and a button down shirt. In a panic, Cassandra stumbled to her feet.

"Girl, what are you doing?" Milly asked.

"I have to make a phone call," Cassandra said, stumbling away from her friends to find a quieter spot. She dug around in her shoulder bag for her phone. She finally located it and dialed a number she hadn't dialed in years.

"Miss Cassandra Cooper," the voice said on the other line. "or rather, Miss Relena."

"Shhh," Cassandra droned into the phone. "Don't say that name," she said.

"Miss Cooper, have you been drinking?"

"I am an adult, Lady Une," Cassandra said. "Look, what in god's name are Heero, Duo, Quatre and Hilde doing here?" Lady Une sighed.

"I wish I could say they are on vacation, but that would not be the whole truth," Lady Une said. "Your book, well, they figured it out," she said.

"What?"

"They read your book, and they know it was you. Heero asked me for money to come out there and find you, but I told him no, because he didn't have any real proof. Unfortunately, Mr. Winner is entitled to do with his money what he will. And he chose to pay for the four of them to travel to that city and stay there. They will come looking for you," she said. Cassandra felt like sobbing into the phone.

"They can't," Cassandra said. "My life here is fine. I can't have them back in my life. I can't," she said, near tears.

"I know you don't want that, but I can't technically stop them. Heero is not on Preventer business. He even filed for official vacation time," Lady Une said, heaving another sigh. "But maybe it would be a good thing, Miss Relena." Cassandra hissed again at the name. "The letters have stopped. The threats have stopped. You've come to terms with what happened. Perhaps it's time you told your friends why you had to disappear four years ago," Lady Une said.

"No, no, no. I can't," Cassandra said. She felt her resolve and courage slipping through her fingers as her foggy, drunk mind tried to catch up on comprehending what Lady Une was saying.

"_Have_ you gotten over what happened?" Lady Une asked. Cassandra didn't have an answer. "Quatre and Duo tell me that Heero has not been the same since you disappeared. If you let him into your life again, he could protect you. I admit it was a mistake to take him away from you that week," Lady Une said, her voice softening. Cassandra sobbed and let her knees buckle under her until she was sitting amongst the grass growing up through the sand. The first loud pop of a firework went off.

"I have to go. The fireworks show is starting," Cassandra said.

"Take care," Lady Une said. Cassandra hung up her phone, threw it in her bag and stumbled her way back to Milly. When Cassandra sat back down, Milly looked at her.

"Oh my god, are you alright?" Milly asked. Cassandra nodded.

"Don't worry about it," she said, wiping at her cheeks.

-


	6. Chapter 6

Hiding Scars

Chapter 6

Cassandra had no idea how she'd gotten home. The last thing she remembered was watching the fireworks show. When she woke up, she was lying on her couch in her living room with Cherry lying on the floor beside her. Cassandra tried to sit up, but her house began to spin around. After the spinning slowed, she got to her feet and dragged herself to her bathroom, getting there before all of yesterday came back up into the toilet. When the vomiting stopped for a moment, she turned and saw Cherry sitting in the doorway, looking at her, with an expression that seemed to say, "This is all your fault, ya know." Cassandra groaned and leaned her head against her arm, which rested on the toilet seat. Another moment later, she was vomiting some more.

Cassandra stayed there for an hour. She had to be at her book signing by 2 pm, and it was already noon. She found a towel under her sink in the bathroom and took a shower in the stall, rather than dragging herself up to the second floor to shower. She sat in there for a while, just letting the water wash over her skin. Finally, she stood up and rubbed down her skin with soap, then her hair and she scrubbed her face. She hadn't yet looked in the mirror, and she didn't want to. When she was done in the shower, she stepped out and dried herself off. The mirror in the bathroom was foggy, so she wiped her hand over it to clear the steam. Looking back at her was a haggard looking face, with remnants of eye makeup smeared everywhere.

"Oh lord," Cassandra said to herself. She poked and pulled at the skin on her face, but knew she was going to have to climb the steps to change and put on fresh makeup. She wandered into the kitchen with her towel wrapped around herself, and opened the refrigerator. Inside, there was a large, unfamiliar pitcher with a note attached. Cassandra picked it up and read it.

_Dear Cass, I think you'll need this. Instant hangover cure. -Paul_

At the very least, Cassandra knew that Paul had probably helped her home if he had made that for her and brought it over. Cassandra pulled the pitcher out of the fridge and sniffed. It was a bloody mary mixture, and from the smell, it already had vodka mixed in. Thankful, she pulled a glass out of a cupboard, poured some of the mix into her glass and added some pre-cut pickles and celery sticks that she found hiding behind the pitcher. She took a large drink of the bloody mary, refilled her glass, then made her way upstairs.

Cassandra barely made it on time to her own book signing. She had found a travel mug that was not see through, and poured herself more of the bloody mary mix and took it with her. She kept it at her side while she sat at the little table in the bookstore. Cassandra had hoped, and assumed, that she wouldn't be very busy, but the word had spread quickly about her book during the last couple of weeks, so there was a line out the door. She had a stock of permanent pens next to her, and she began the process of signing books and meeting new fans, occasionally taking drinks from her hangover cure.

-

Heero and the others had gone early to the main drag for the festival. Heero wanted to find the location of the book signing, so that he could see Cassandra, or rather, Relena. The others had offered to go with him, but he said that he wanted to go alone. Soon, they found the bookstore, and Heero got in line, with plans to meet up with them later, whatever happened.

-

After about an hour and a half of signing, Cassandra's wrist was getting sore. She still felt sick, and she was desperately hungry, but she had to keep going. Book after book got set down in front of her, she asked the name, then signed her name.

She was on a roll when a book was placed in front of her and she automatically said, "And who should I make this out to?"

"Heero," a deep voice said. Cassandra looked up and met blue eyes looking down at her. Slowly, she placed her hands over the book and pulled it towards her, still staring up at those eyes. He smiled, and Cassandra felt her stomach drop.

"Sure," Cassandra said. She picked up her pen and wrote the name 'Heero,' then in her recently developed flourish, signed her name, Cassandra Cooper. She closed the book and pushed it back over to him, her entire body shaking. Heero looked down at her and smiled again.

"Thank you, Miss Cooper," he said. He held his hand out to shake hers, and she nervously reached up and shook his hand. His thumb rubbed against the back of her hand gently, then pulled away, and he was gone. Cassandra looked down and saw that a small slip of paper had been left on the table, distinctly bearing the name "Relena" in small handwriting.

"Shit," she mumbled to herself as she brushed the piece of paper into her lap before the next person in line got to the table.

-

Heero caught up with the others, who were waiting in line to get ice cream. "Did you see her?" Duo asked. Heero nodded.

"She looks terrible," Heero commented. Hilde tilted her head and glared at him. "I just mean, she looks like she's not feeling well today or something," he added quickly. "But I left her a note, so hopefully she'll read it."

"Did she seem freaked out?" Quatre asked.

"She was nervous," Heero said, but he smiled and glanced back towards the small bookstore. Heero stepped away as the group reached the counter to order their ice cream. He shifted from side to side, his phone held tightly in his hand. He hoped that she would call him, or get in contact with him somehow. But he had to keep reminding himself that she would be there until at least five o'clock. His friends joined him a moment later, and they walked off to do some more sightseeing and festival attending.

-

Cassandra didn't read the note until she got back home. Only after she was sitting on her couch with Cherry lying next to her, did she feel brave enough to unfold the note and read it.

_Relena/Cassandra-_

_I know that it's you. I read your book, and knew that you were writing about us, back when we were teenagers. When I tore up the invitation to your birthday party that day. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to know you are alive. I have spent the last four years assuming you were dead. Duo, Hilde, Quatre and I came here to find you. I didn't know what to expect from this trip, whether we could convince you to come back with us, or if we could at least talk to you to hear about why you disappeared on us. If you are in trouble, you know that you can always rely on me._

_We will be here for three weeks. I hope that you will get in touch with me. I want to see you._

_-Heero_

Below his name was his cell phone number. Cassandra let the note drop into her lap as the tears began to flow over her cheeks. Soon, she was sobbing hard, her body lurching as she tried to breathe through the tears and the sobs. Her pent up fear, anxiety and loneliness sprang forth, the tears dripping onto the note and causing the ink to run. She cried until she had no tears left, and until her muscles ached with the effort of hard sobbing. Cassandra got up from her couch and went to the bathroom to blow her nose and splash water on her face. Her cheeks were red and blotchy, her eyes bloodshot, and her makeup smeared under her eyes. She was a complete mess. Instead of trying to do anything else for the rest of the day, she wandered to her bedroom and passed out on her bed, without even changing out of her clothes.


	7. Chapter 7

Hiding Scars

Chapter 7

A/N: This is a long one. Sorry about that :-)

Heero was disappointed. He lay in bed, his phone next to him, but he had not heard from Relena all night. Hilde tried to tell him that it would be stressful for her to acknowledge her former life, and that she might not even contact him all week, but Heero couldn't listen to that rational. He wanted to talk to her sooner rather than later. He felt a little selfish wanting her to call him so badly. It was all for his own reasons that he wanted to see her, and Hilde accused him of not being concerned about Relena's feelings. Heero had stormed off to his bedroom, but as the time passed, he knew Hilde was right. After he had stormed to his room, he had heard his friends leave the house, and he watched out the window as they piled into the car and drove off. Heero had no idea what they were doing, but he was glad they didn't ask him to tag along. He was too anxious to do anything.

He picked up a book he had brought along and flipped it open. The picture of Relena rested between the same two pages they have rested between for the last couple of years. He picked the picture up between two fingers and stared at it, comparing the eighteen year old face of Relena with the twenty-two year old, haggard looking face of Relena. If Heero was honest, he'd say that Relena looked hung-over. She looked similar to how Hilde would look after a night of hard drinking.

Heero sighed. She wasn't going to contact him, at least not right away. He had to stop hoping too much. Finally, he stuck the picture back into the book, set it aside and eventually drifted off to sleep while brooding about the situation.

-

When Cassandra woke up the next morning, she felt physically and emotionally exhausted. It was six in the morning. Rather than continuing to brood, she pulled on a pair of shorts, a sports bra and a tank top, socks and her running shoes. She woke up Cherry with the promise of a run, and together, they left the house. Cassandra attached Cherry's leash to her collar, and they took off at a jog to warm up. When she started to feel better, she sped up, Cherry adjusting to match Cassandra's speed. The endorphins began to course through her body, waking up her muscles and her brain, making her feel better than she had during the last couple of days. She listened to the sound of her shoes pounding against the pavement, and the jingle of Cherry's dog tags clinking together. Sweat beaded on her forehead and began to drip down her temples to her jaw line. Her head felt light, but her thoughts and feelings became clearer and more defined as she ran. She was beginning to feel like she could take on this current situation that had been presented to her with the care and grace she'd never lost.

At least, she felt that way until she was running down the sidewalk and saw a familiar blonde man sitting on the front porch of a house, reading and drinking from a coffee mug. Cassandra slowed her pace, Cherry reacting and slowing as well.

Quatre looked up and saw her. He set aside his book and mug and stood up. Cassandra slowed down all the way to a walk, and then stopped in front of the house. Quatre walked down the steps and down the walkway until he was standing in front of her.

"Quatre..." Cassandra said quietly. She looked him over, how he'd gotten taller, how his hair had gotten a little longer, and how his face that always looked so young was beginning to show signs of worry and smile lines.

"Miss Cassandra, or rather, Miss Relena," he said, giving her a short bow. Cassandra blushed and looked away. A rush of conflicting emotions welled up inside of her. She was torn between breaking down and hugging him or just taking off running and never looking back. She chose the former.

"Oh Quatre," she said, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. Quatre returned the hug tightly. Cassandra started to cry.

"Why are you crying?" he asked her.

"It's just that... well... I haven't seen you in four years and now I'm hugging you and I'm all sweaty and gross," she cried. Quatre laughed out loud and pulled her away so he could see her face.

"Don't worry about it, Miss Relena," he said. She brushed away her tears.

"I guess that is my real name," she said. "Though I haven't been called in since I left," she added.

"We are all kind of wondering about that," Quatre said frankly. Relena nodded, then sighed.

"What are you doing awake right now?" she asked. Quatre shrugged.

"You know how traveling is. Your sleep schedule gets all messed up," he said. Relena nodded. "So do you, well, do you think you'll be able to talk to us sometime while we're here?" Relena looked away again, down at Cherry, who was sniffing at Quatre's shoe. Quatre looked down and scratched the dog's head. Cherry barked once, then tried to jump up and lick Quatre, but Relena commanded her down. Cherry sat back down.

"Who is this?" Quatre asked.

"Cherry," Relena said. "I'm assuming that you guys know where I live, since Heero is with you," she said. Quatre nodded. "Come over tonight around six. I'll make dinner, and..." she trailed off for a moment. She pondered her choices, and not for the first time, wondered what Heero would do in her situation. "And I'll tell you everything." Quatre nodded, then gave her another hug.

"I'll see you then," he said. Relena nodded, and Quatre turned away and walked back up to the front porch. Relena resumed her run, pushing herself harder than she had in a long time, forcing her muscles to burn all the way back to her house.

-

"She was here?!" Heero cried out. Quatre held his hand up in front of him to keep Heero from lunging.

"Yes, but you all were still sleeping. She was just out running with her dog, and we talked for a minute. She invited us all over for dinner tonight, and she said she would tell us everything," Quatre explained. Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"I'm so glad," Hilde said to break the silence. "I've missed her." Duo nodded in agreement. Heero sat back in his chair, his leg shaking beneath the table.

"I know you're going to be anxious, Heero, but you have to give her space when we go over there. She's feeling reserved about this, I could tell, and we are lucky she is inviting us over. If we just go over there without any intent to try and get her to come home with us, then maybe everything will go fine," Quatre said. Heero nodded his assent to the plan.

The group fell silent again as they picked over the last of their breakfast that Hilde had made. Heero looked at the clock. It was only ten in the morning. It was going to be a long day until 6 pm.

-

It was 5:45 and Relena, up until now known as Cassandra, was freaking out. Sure, she had dinner ready to go, the table set, the wine chilled and uncorked, Cherry fed and content, and she was showered and dressed and her makeup was done. She had decided at the last moment to leave out the green contacts. They already knew who she was, so it was pointless to pretend that she had green eyes. She thought maybe it was because she didn't have anything to do, that she was freaking out. She was pacing back and forth in her kitchen, wringing her hands. Milly had stopped by earlier, but then Cassandra had told Milly that she was having some friends over from out of town and would be unavailable for the evening.

Her agent had even called and said that sales of her book were going well, and getting better. That was a good thing. She was even being asked about a second book, either to make _The Invitation_ a series or to write another stand alone book. Cassandra Cooper had several novels in the works, one that was almost finished. That one was closer to being an autobiography of Relena Peacecraft-Darlian.

At 5:55, her doorbell rang and she jumped, a squeal escaping her mouth. Relena stopped herself before opening the door, to regain her composure. She took a deep breath, then opened the door.

Quatre, Duo, Hilde and Heero were standing on her front porch, all smiling. Relena put a smile on her face and said,

"Hey everyone."

"Relena!" Hilde cried and threw herself into Relena's arms. Relena hugged her friend tightly.

"Hi Hilde," Relena said. Hilde pulled away and stared at her face, then let go and moved aside. Quatre hugged her again, and made a joke that at least she wasn't sweaty now. Quatre moved aside, and Duo pulled her into a bear hug, which lifted her off the ground.  
"Man, Relena babe, we have missed you!" Duo said. He touched her long, red braid. "Looks like we're in competition now, girl," he added. Relena laughed. Next was Heero, who seemed to hesitate before stepping forward and drawing Relena into a hug. Relena couldn't help but notice how the last few years had been good to him, how he'd grown and matured. Her heart fluttered at the sight of him, and her throat tightened, threatening to force tears from her eyes. Against his chest, Relena felt more at peace than she had in a long time. She could hear his heart beating hard against his rib cage. When he let go, Relena almost said not to. But she let them into her house and closed the door.

They all stepped in and took off their shoes, then stood there, looking at her. "I'm sorry. I think I have lost anything I learned about being a gracious host," Relena said, her hands once again in front of her, wringing together. Hilde laughed and took Relena's hands in her own.

"Stop worrying. We're still the same people as before. Just show us to the alcohol and everything will be fine," Hilde said with a wink. Relena let out an exhale, grateful, then led the group into her dining room. She poured out glasses of wine and handed them around. Duo raised his up for a toast.

"Here's to finding our Princess again," he said, and they clinked glasses and took a sip. Relena blushed.

"Well uh, dinner is ready so we can eat now if everyone wants," Relena said. Her friends nodded and sat down at the table. She brought out the dishes from the kitchen and set them on the table. Everyone began to eat, and like a miracle, everyone just started to chat like it was old times. They talked about their trip over to the States, and what they had done in the city so far. Duo and Hilde talked about their wedding. Relena felt horrible for missing it, but they assured her that she didn't miss much except for a drunken mess.

"I have learned to love drunken messes," she said with a laugh.

-

Heero couldn't keep himself from staring at Relena through dinner. He was glad that she had her blue eyes back, and he actually liked her red hair. The one thing that drew his attention the most was the large tattoo on her shoulder. It looked like an explosion of flowers, surrounded by vines and leaves. The tattoo spanned over her shoulder and down her back. He wondered how far down it went underneath her tank top. He felt his own neck get hot from the thought of investigating the size of the tattoo along her slim back. He pushed the thought away.

Her laugh was what made him smile the most. Even when he was first getting to know her back during the war, she didn't laugh very often. She was so serious all the time, trying to be an adult at the age of 16. They were all trying to be adults at young, teenage years. But now, she was laughing and smiling, and her skin had a glow to it, a combination of the sun and of general happiness, Heero assumed. Occasionally, Relena would look at him and smile, and he would smile back, just for her.

-

Once dinner was done and dessert was served, Relena led them onto her expansive deck off the back of her house. She refilled their wine glasses, then sat on a deck chair. Cherry followed her outside and curled up beside her. She took a deep breath.

"I know you are all still wondering what happened," she began, and her friends nodded their heads. "It's not a pretty story, and I still haven't really- come to terms with what happened. I have tried. You may think that it had something to do with the assassination attempt during my birthday party. But that is neither the beginning, nor the end, of this story," she said.

"It started after the Eve War, when I was performing my job of Vice Foreign Minister. I began to receive emails and letters. The emails were untraceable, and the letters came postmarked from all over the world. They were threatening emails and letters, promising bodily harm and other awful things. The person sending them was clearly upset with something I had done, though it was never made clear what it was. It's possible this person just did not like me. But the amount of hate fueled into those letters and emails was overwhelming. I reached out to Lady Une, and she promised she would try to figure out what was going on. All she was able to find were dead ends. I tried to ignore them and move on with my life." Relena glanced up from the wine glass resting between her folded hands in her lap and saw Heero's face. "I didn't tell anyone except for Lady Une. Maybe I should have told you, Heero, or any of you all, but I didn't know how closely I was being watched by this person. I was afraid that if I told my friends, he would come after you as well.

"And as you know, there was the assassination attempt. It happened about a year and a half after the letters and emails. I was whisked away to the hospital, questioned by Preventers and the police, and I was finally able to go home..."


	8. Chapter 8

Hiding Scars

Chapter 8

A/N: I couldn't post the previous chapter without posting this one.

However, this chapter contains mature content. Read at your own discretion. Thank you! :-)

_Relena unlocked her front door and stepped inside, then closed and locked the door behind her. Her arm was still aching from the wound, but it was stitched closed and wrapped in gauze to keep it clean. Relena looked sadly down at her gown, which was now ruined with tears and blood. She reflected on how often her birthday dresses were ruined for one reason or another. She moved into her home and went to her bedroom. As she was changing into pajamas, she heard something from behind her. She spun around, but no one was there. The house had gone silent once again. Relena backed herself into a corner and looked around. She had that horrible feeling that she was being watched. She reached for her top and began to pull it over her head, when her arms were wrenched behind her. Relena cried out, and a gloved hand clamped down over her mouth._

_"Shut up, princess," the voice said. It was a low, gravelly voice._

_"Who are you?" she tried to ask through the hand that was keeping her from crying out again._

_"That's not important," the voice said. Relena's arms were jerked together, and she felt a piece of plastic circle her wrists. The person behind her zip tied her hands together. She couldn't move them. His hands reached around and cupped her bare breasts. She could hear him moan, and she felt him press his hips into her back. She began to panic._

_"Shut up!" he yelled, and his hand dug into her wound on her arm. Relena screamed, and he slapped her on the side of the head. Relena lost her balance and fell on the floor. The man picked her up and threw her onto the bed. She landed with her face pressed into the pillow. She started to cry horrible wrenching sobs. The mattress shifted as the man climbed onto the bed. His hands wrapped around her hair and pulled. Her head jerked back._

_"Did you enjoy my love letters, little princess?" he asked, his mouth close to her ear._

_"Why?" Relena asked through her sobs._

_"Why? Because I wanted you, that's why. You see, I know you are in love with that Gundam Pilot, but he's no good for you. I tried to have my friend knock some sense into you at your party, but of course, he only gave you that little cut." he said. He placed his hand back on her head and shoved her face into the pillows again. She heard the jingle of a belt being undone._

_"No..." she cried._

_"Yes." Her pajama bottoms and panties were ripped from her. "From what I could tell, you are a virgin, little princess," he said, the sadistic desire in his voice obvious. Relena felt him fumble between her legs, then in one sharp movement, she was in pain, and she could feel him inside of her. He began to thrust deeply inside of her, every movement sending a sharp pain through her. Relena closed her eyes and tried to imagine her happiest memories._

_It went on for a long time. Once he was finished, he climbed off of her, then tied her legs to the posts of the bed. He had her several more times. When Relena looked down under her body, she could see blood, her blood, staining the sheets._

_"And just so you don't forget, my little princess," he said, then climbed back onto the bed. His hand rested on her back, and she felt a sharp pain. She tried to turn her head and look, and she could see that he had a knife, and was using the knife to write something into her shoulder._

_"You are mine, you slut, and if you tell anyone what happened here, I will kill them. I will kill you, and your friends." The pains continued as he carved something out with the knife. Blood began to run down her arms and she could feel it running down her back and pooling in the small of her back. "There. Perfect." he said. As Relena was going to try and lift herself off the bed, a heavy blow came to her head and she blacked out._

_When she woke up, it was morning, and her arms and legs were no longer restrained. The room showed evidence of what had happened during the night, and Relena's entire body ached. She wanted to cry, but she felt numb. Slowly, she eased herself up and went into the bathroom. Her skin on her back and arm pulled where the blood had dried during the night. Relena went into her bathroom and turned on the light. The sight of herself in the mirror was too much, and she found tears to cry. She turned around so she could see what he had done to her back. Through the blood, she could see the words 'You belong to me' in jagged, uneven letters. Relena filled her bathtub and sat in the water until it turned ice cold._


	9. Chapter 9

Hiding Scars

Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry I didn't update yesterday. To make up for it, here's two chapters :-)

"After that, I went to Lady Une and told her I had to disappear. I couldn't risk that man coming to my house again, and I couldn't risk anyone getting hurt. Lady Une helped me to disappear. Then a week later, I was Cassandra Cooper, on my way to a new home in Virginia. Relena Peacecraft-Darlian was no more."

Hilde was crying and the boys were staring at her in shock. Relena lowered her head to look at the ground, still holding her wine glass between her hands. No one said anything for a long time.

"The tattoo...?" Quatre asked quietly.

"They don't like to tattoo over scars, but I begged them and offered them a large amount of money to tattoo over the words. They finally did it, so I could hide what he did," Relena explained. Quatre rose and walked over to Relena, then pulled her into a hug. Duo, Hilde and Heero all joined him, the four of them circling her and hugging her, trying to give her the protection she should have had four years ago. Relena had no more tears for the story, but she gratefully accepted their comfort.

-

Heero stepped back from the friends circling Relena. He looked at her face. Her eyes were closed, but her cheeks were dry. She wasn't crying after retelling the entire story to them. Heero's fist clenched, and he could feel a rage boiling up inside of him. He was gone that week. Lady Une had sent him away. He should have been there. He should have been with Relena that night, and nothing would have happened to her. Heero could have killed the man trying to attack her. There were so many things that could have happened rather than the horrific event that transpired at her home that night. His mind was raging.

_He hurt her. He raped her. He attacked her and made her bleed in her own home. He completely destroyed any security she had. He caused her to move away from all of us. He permanently scarred her. He tried to destroy her. I will kill whoever it was..._

Duo had noticed that Heero had moved away. He dropped his arms from Quatre and the girls and stepped towards Heero. Duo grabbed Heero's upper arm, lightly, and steered him away from the group. They stepped down off the deck and walked around the side of the home. Beneath his hand, Duo could feel Heero trembling.

"Are you alright, man?" Duo asked. Heero didn't have an answer for him. His hands were hanging at his sides, fists still balled, and his eyes were focused on his shoes. He was trying to control the wild rage thrashing around in his brain, causing him to feel hot and shaky. "Heero?" Duo asked again. Heero shook his head. He didn't trust himself to speak just yet. Duo frowned and took a step back from Heero. Heero took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I don't..." Heero began to say, but he trailed off. He didn't know what to say. Footsteps in the grass caused the two men to turn, and they saw Quatre approaching.

"Heero, are you okay?" he asked. Heero just shook his head, trying to force his hands to unclench.

"I think I have to call Lady Une," he said. His friends reacted immediately. They raised their hands up, shaking them, saying, "No, no, that's not a good idea."

"Why?" Heero asked. His phone was already in his hand.

"She couldn't have known that something like this would happen after Relena's birthday," Quatre said.

"She knew someone was stalking Relena," Heero said. "She should have informed me about this right away!" Heero was having a harder time controlling his anger. "Why didn't I stay with her that night?" he asked himself.

"It's not your fault. There was so much to take care of after the shooting, and you were the best one to take care of that stuff. Relena must have just been able to slip through the cracks and go home by herself, since everyone was so preoccupied," Quatre said.

"Come on, buddy. Don't call Une," Duo said. Heero sighed.

"I have to," he said, then stalked away across the lawn, pulling up Une's number on his phone. It rang a few times before she finally answered.

"Hello Heero. Having a nice vacation?" she asked.

"Why didn't you tell me that Relena was being stalked?" Heero asked, his voice low and dangerous. Une was silent on the other line. "Well?" He heard her sigh.

"She didn't want to tell anyone. She was afraid for the safety of all her friends," Une responded.

"Why did you send me away from her, even though you knew she was being stalked?" Heero asked. There was an edge of suspicion to his voice. Une noticed.

"Are you implying that I purposely sent you away on that mission after her attack?" Une asked, her voice getting higher in her frustration.

"Well, is it true?" he asked.

"Of course not!" She almost screeched. "There was nothing that came from that guy that ever implied that he was planning a physical attack on the princess!" Heero had no response, and Une was silent for a moment. Heero's breath was moving rapidly through his lungs, and he could hear Une trying to calm herself down.

"You found her then?" Une said after a moment.

"Yes."

"And she told you everything that happened?"

"Yes."

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know yet. But I do know I'm going to find that sadistic asshole and kill him," Heero said. Une sighed.

"That's not a good idea, Heero," she said.

"He has been threatening the Princess, and Vice Foreign Minister. As the head of the Preventers, you should have done more to protect her, or to at least find out more information," Heero was speaking in a completely calm voice. "Instead of secrecy, it should have been public. We have the resources to protect her in the case of anything. Instead, her protection was lacking, and that happened," he finished.

"I helped her to get away," Une said, trying to defend herself.

"And thereby undoing all the good she was working on in her position. Work that even if she wanted to come back, would take years to regain," Heero replied.

"When you come back to work, which I won't accept until your actual date of return from vacation, I will give you all my documentation about the stalker," Une said at last.

"Thank you," Heero said. They were silent again for a moment.

"Tell Relena I said hello," she added.

"Okay. Bye Une." Heero hung up his phone and stowed it away in his pocket once again. He let his hands drop to his sides, and he allowed his breath and his temper to cool off before returning to his friends. When he finally felt able to return to them, he crossed the lawn and climbed the steps of the deck. It appeared that his friends had all gone inside. He walked up to the sliding door and pushed it open and stepped inside the air conditioned home. Relena, Hilde and Quatre were cleaning up her kitchen, and Duo was sitting on the floor wrestling with Relena's dog. At least she had a dog to protect her while he could not be here.

Relena glanced at Heero from the sink where she was washing a pan. He nodded slightly to her and smiled. She finished washing the pan and set it down on the counter to be dried by Hilde. Quatre, without needing to be asked, stepped in to take over. Relena crossed the kitchen to stand by Heero. She took his hand and led him back outside onto the deck. She shut the door behind her and they sat down at the small wire framed table and chairs.

"I wish I could have told you what happened without everyone else around," she began. Her hands clasped in her lap once again. Heero reached across and touched her arm. She brought her hand out of her lap, and Heero held her hand in his own.

"I wish I could have been there to protect you," he replied. Relena shook her head. Heero gripped her hand tighter. "I have so much I want to tell you, and I don't know where to start," he said. Relena smiled.

"I feel the same," she said.

-

_Heero had surprised Relena that day by showing up on her doorstep with cupcakes, a bottle of wine and a small box wrapped in shiny wrapping paper and a little bow. She let him into her house._

_"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Relena asked, glancing at the items in his hands. Heero smiled at her and leaned over to give her a quick peck on the forehead._

_"I will not get to spend much time with you during your birthday party, so I decided to come over and celebrate early," he said. Relena was touched. She smiled brightly and helped him with the various items he was carrying._

_"It's nice out. Let's go to the garden," she said. Heero nodded and followed her through the house to the backdoor. The door led down a small flight of stairs onto a stone patio, which was surrounded by rose bushes and flower beds with all different kinds of flowers. There was one tall tree in the garden where Relena would frequently sit under and read or relax. There was a stone bench on the patio near the largest rose bush. It was there that Relena walked to, followed closely by Heero. She sat down on the bench, and Heero sat down on the stone patio in front of her. He opened the bakery box and took out the two cupcakes that were inside. He produced two candles from a pocket, one in the shape of a 1 and the other in the shape of an 8. He stuck the candles in the cupcakes, causing Relena to giggle. He smiled, and used a lighter from his jacket to light the wicks._

_In a surprising baritone, Heero sang 'Happy birthday' to her while the flames on the candles danced in the light breeze. When he concluded the song, Relena leaned forward and blew out the candles. "Did you make a wish?" he asked._

_"I didn't have to," she replied. She grinned when a small red flush crept up over his cheeks. He shook his head and plucked a candle out of one of the cupcakes and handed it up to her._

_"I forgot glasses. Hang on," he said. He rose from the ground and went inside the kitchen to find some wine glasses and a bottle opener. When he came back outside, the cupcake in Relena's hands was already half eaten, and there was a small smudge of icing on her lip. Heero swallowed hard. He approached her and set the wine glasses down on the bench beside her and put his hands on the back of the bench, one on either side of her. He leaned in close._

_"Heero?" Relena asked._

_"You have a little icing on your lip. Let me get it for you," he said, his voice low with an edge of desire that startled Relena. He leaned in closer still and his lips met the spot on her upper lip where the icing had stuck. Naturally, it turned into a kiss. She tasted sweet to him. When he pulled back, Relena's face was a furious shade of red, and in her embarrassment, she lifted a hand to cover her face, and also tried to hide a smile, it seemed. Heero smiled at her and turned his attention to the bottle of wine. When he offered Relena a glass, the cupcake was gone._

_"Did you have time to taste it?" he teased. Relena stuck her tongue out at him and took the glass he offered. She took a small sip. It was fruity and sweet, and complemented the taste of the cupcake she had just devoured._

_"Both are delicious," she said, taking another sip. Heero poured a glass for himself and took a drink as well. He sat down, cross legged in front of her on the ground. She had pulled her own legs up under her and smoothed her skirt over her knees. Heero picked up the box and held it up to her._

_"It's not very creative, but I thought you might like it," he said._

_"I'm sure it's wonderful, whatever it is," she said. Slowly and carefully, or rather, politely, she untied the bow and peeled back the paper. As she tore away the paper, a white box was revealed underneath. She pulled open the lid and lifted out a white bear. Her face broke out into a large smile, and she pulled the bear to her chest and nuzzled it with her face. The fur was soft and smelled slightly like Heero's apartment. She kept that to herself, taking a deep breath of the smell of him._

_"It's beautiful," she said, lifting her face to look at him. He was smiling. Relena relished in his smile, never wanting it to disappear. Of course, it usually did._

_"I had something else to tell you," he said. Relena tilted her head and hugged the bear close again._

_"What is it?" she asked._

_"After your party, Une needs to me to take care of something out in space. I'll be gone for about a week. They are going to assign someone else to you during that time," he said._

_"Why you?" she asked._

_"Une seems to think I'm the best one for the job. Something to do with a bunch of what appear to be abandoned mobile suits drifting in space. Can never be too careful," he added. Relena nodded, understanding the necessity of taking care of those suits._

_"I understand. I'm eighteen now. I'll be alright," she said with a smile. Heero met her eyes._

_"You are so... " he started._

_"So what?"_

_"Just so... " He found the words difficult to say. Though he knew, being with her, there would be many more phrases that would be even more difficult to say. "Beautiful," he finally said. Relena's mouth formed into a half smile._

_"Who are you and what did you do to my bodyguard?" Relena asked. Heero shook his head._

_"He's still here. He always will be," he said. Relena's heart melted to hear him say that. Little hints had been dropped before. The occasional kiss, the occasional touch, the occasional sweet words that seemed to come from somewhere deep within that war torn man. Anything that ever came out of his mouth was sincere, except of course, his promise to kill her._

_"You should take my picture then, and keep it with you while you're on your mission. That way, you'll have to remember to come back to me," she said, daring to take their conversation further. Heero nodded and produced his phone. Relena set aside the white box and the wrapping paper, then set the bear on her lap with her arms around it, and smiled her best smile. Heero took a picture with a small click of the phone._


	10. Chapter 10

Hiding Scars

Chapter 10

The sun was beginning to sink behind the horizon. Sounds from the festival still wafted over the land, shouts and laughter and music. Relena took a deep breath and exhaled, simply enjoying being in Heero's presence. She didn't know that Heero had been staring at her, taking in her beauty of aging, the glow of her skin and the false red of her hair. The long, Duo-esque braid hung over her shoulder and ended somewhere past her breasts.

Relena snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him. "I completely lost track of what I was doing!" she said with a little laugh. "I'm supposed to be entertaining them!" she said. Relena jumped up from the chair before Heero could say anything, and she dashed inside the house. Heero followed her.

The house was empty except for Cherry. Relena looked around and frowned. The dishes were all done and the dining room was clean. On the table there was a single sheet of paper, written in what could have been Hilde's writing.

_Relena & Heero,_

_You two need some time alone. We went to the beach to hang out at the festival. If you want to join us later, just give us a call!_

_-Hilde_

"They left us alone," Relena commented after reading the note. Heero had come up behind her and read the note over her shoulder. Unable to resist the urge, he circled his arms around her waist and pulled her close to his chest. She could feel the heat of his body through her clothes.

"Relena," Heero breathed. He rested his chin on her shoulder. Relena closed her eyes, trying to still her racing heart. Even after all this time, her body's natural instinct when touched was to shy away, to protect herself. But Heero would never hurt her. She knew this. She stepped forward and turned around to face him. She stared at his eyes, and he stared into her's.

"You never left my thoughts," Relena said. "Not once since I had to leave." Heero nodded.

"I know. I read your book," he said. "It was pretty obvious to me where you got the inspiration for that, though I don't think anyone else knows about it." Relena shook her head.

"I've never told anyone," she said. "When I was writing it, I used it as an excuse to think about you, and to bring up past memories, especially when I was feeling lonely," she said. "Every month I considered leaving here and returning home, but I just didn't know what would happen. I couldn't... I couldn't endure what happened a second time. I don't even want to return to that house. Ever."

Heero pulled her close again, her cheek resting against his chest. His hand reached up to her hair and he stroked it. He was insanely curious about the scar on her shoulder, underneath the ink, but he kept his hand away from that spot, worried it might touch a nerve with her.

"I never forgot about you. When the search was called off, I drifted restlessly. I was completely lost," he confessed. "You were my life, and without you, I had no life," he said.

"Oh Heero," she said quietly.

"The most painful part was admitting to myself that you were- that you were probably dead," he said. Relena's stomach twisted. She felt immense amounts of guilt about leaving her friends without telling them where she was. But it was necessary. She had to protect them, and she had to protect herself.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. Heero shook his head.

"Don't apologize. Otherwise, we'll be apologizing to each other until we die. It is what it is. We can't change anything," he said.

"At least not the past," Relena added. Heero lifted her chin up with one if his fingers.

"The future is still to be determined," he said, then leaned down and kissed her. For the first moment, the first kiss they shared in four years, Relena was nervous and felt anxiety welling up in the pit of her stomach. But her heart screamed at her brain to relax, that this was different. That this was not the same as what happened after her birthday party, so long ago. This was calm, this was right, this was love.

After a moment, they broke apart, gasping slightly for air. It was getting darker out, the sun almost completely hidden by the horizon. Heero still wanted to know about her tattoo. He wondered how far he could go, and on impulse, decided to try. He turned her around slowly with his hands on her shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Relena asked.

"I'm curious about this tattoo," he said. When she was turned, he used a finger to lightly trace the vines, leaves and flowers that adorned her shoulder. Now that he was standing close to her, he could see the slight raises on her skin where the words were cruelly etched with steel. He carefully avoided that spot. HIs finger traced down to where her tattoo disappeared. "How far down does it go?" Relena didn't answer right away. She was contemplating her response. Finally, instead of saying anything, she simply grabbed the hem of the tank top she was wearing and hoisted it up over her head.

With her top gone, Heero could see the full extent of the work she had done on this tattoo. From where it began at her shoulder, it exploded across her back in a collage of flowers, vines, leaves, blood, water and knives. It seemed that this was Relena's way of coping. It was beautiful work, and would take Heero ages to learn every secret hidden amongst the ink.

"Wow," he said simply. He didn't know what else to say.

"It has been an ongoing project," Relena confessed, pulling her shirt back down over her head and tugging it to her waist.

"I see that," he said. He was surprised. She never would have gotten anything like that if she had never left her position and came to hide out in the United States. Relena turned back around and smiled at Heero.

"Do you want to meet up with the others down at the festival?" Relena asked. Heero shrugged his shoulders, but he was smiling.

"As long as I'm with you," he said.

A few minutes later, they were strolling along the sidewalk, hand in hand, with Cherry walking ahead of them on the leash. She had sniffed at Heero for several minutes, then finally licked his hand and ignored him.

"That's her way of approving of you," Relena said. Heero smiled and gave the dog a scratch at the ears.

"Are you writing anything else?" Heero asked her as they walked.

"I have something almost finished," Relena replied. "I don't know if I'll publish it, though," she added.

"Why?"

"It's ah, more of an autobiography of my life, starting with fragmented memories I have of the Peacecraft family, and going up until I had to disappear. It was almost a form of therapy to write about what happened to me. It helped me to accept it a little more, though I don't think I'll ever really forget. I don't think you can forget something like that," Relena said. Heero admired her courage and the way she spoke so matter of factly about what happened. But he knew, somewhere deep down, there were still open wounds. But she would never bare them around anyone but herself.

"You should publish it," he said. Relena shrugged.

"I doubt anyone would read it," she said.

"Yes they would. Have you paid attention to any politics since you left?" he asked. Relena shook her head.

"I tried to bury my head in the sand as far down as I could go," she said with a half smile. "I didn't want to know."

"Your disappearance really affected everything that you were working on. The people you worked with seemed lost without you, almost as lost as I was without you," he said. "The Mars project has pretty much halted, with Zechs and Noine still up there, trying to work things out, but everything is much slower without you pushing for it. And you know that it is necessary and important for the human race..." he said. He realized he had to stop himself. He didn't want to make her feel like he was telling her to return to her job. "Sorry," he said after a moment.

"Remember what you said about not apologizing?" Relena asked, giving his hand a squeeze. "Anyway, I have other novels in the works that I will probably publish," she said, changing the subject.

They spent the rest of the walk talking about random things, such as the jobs Heero had done over the last few years, and the friends Relena had made in the states, and what their other mutual friends were up to. They finally reached the beach and located their friends down by the water. Duo was trying to shove Hilde into the water, while Quatre stood by, half laughing, half telling Duo to leave Hilde alone. Quatre noticed Heero and Relena approaching, so he hailed them with a wave of his arm.

"Hey you two!" he called. Heero and Relena walked through the sand. Relena let Cherry off the leash, and she dashed off to play in the waves. Duo and Hilde stopped rough housing and walked back onto the beach, sand sticking to their wet feet and ankles. Hilde dashed to Relena and linked her arm through Relena's.

"Duo keeps trying to shove me in the ocean. Clearly he doesn't care if I get eaten by sharks," Hilde said, glaring at Duo. Relena laughed along with her friends.

"You won't get eaten by sharks," Relena said, patting the girl's hand.

"Told you!" Duo said, sticking his tongue out at his wife. They continued to laugh. Cherry bounded up across the sand, stopped in the middle of the group, then shook the water off her coat. Everyone held up their hands to try and stop the spray of water.

"Cherry!" Relena cried at the dog. Cherry plopped down on her haunches in front of Relena, barked once and stared at up her, tongue hanging out of her mouth. It looked like the dog was smiling. Relena shook her head and dropped to her knees, pulling the dog into a hug, despite the ocean water still clinging to the dog's fur. Relena stood back up.

"Cass!" a voice called out from behind them. Relena turned and saw Milly and Paul walking hand in hand down the beach. Relena lifted a hand and waved to them. Cherry jumped to her feet and ran up to them, sniffing and greeting them with licks.

"It's so weird seeing Relena react to that name," Duo whispered quietly to Heero. Heero nodded his head, watching her interact with this new couple.

"Hey you guys! Paul! I never thanked you for the hangover cure the other day. I honestly had no idea how I got home until I saw your note!" Relena, as Cassandra, said. Paul smiled.

"It was no easy task, trying to get the two of you home. You were both so drunk, you could barely walk," Paul said while Milly laughed. Relena laughed too. She could feel her friends from her other life staring at her back. She knew it was time to bridge the gap.

"Milly, Paul, these are my friends from out of town. This is Quatre Winner, Duo Maxwell and his wife Hilde, and Heero Yuy," Relena said, introducing them. "These are my neighbors, Milly and Paul. Milly is one of the organizers of the festival." They all shook hands, though Paul had a strange look on his face.

"Cass, how do you know the former Gundam Pilots?" he asked.


	11. Chapter 11

Hiding Scars

Chapter 11

The question took all of them by surprise.

"Uh, what?" she asked, startled. Even her friends looked shocked. Paul lifted a hand and pointed to the guys.

"I remember their names from the wars. They piloted those Gundams, and were always a source of controversy," he said. He was nodding his head now. He knew he was correct.

"Uh," Relena said. There was a very awkward silence during which Relena considered what to say. Milly was just staring, her mouth open in surprise. "I'll just say it," Relena said. All eyes turned to her. "Milly, Paul, I haven't been entirely truthful with you," she said. Milly interrupted her.

"I thought you had green eyes," she said. Relena remembered that she had not put in the green contacts that morning, since trying to fool her friends would not work. Relena closed her eyes and let out a breath.

"Yes, ah, that was fake. My hair color is fake. My name- it's also fake. My entire backstory that I told you, it was all made up," Relena said, watching her friends' faces show more and more surprise. "My name is not Cassandra Cooper. My name is actually Relena Peacecraft-Darlian. I was the Vice Foreign Minister until I had to leave," she said.

"Relena Darlian...?" Milly said. "But why?" she asked, hurt in her voice. It pained Relena to hear her sound so betrayed. Relena turned to her old friends.

"Give me a few minutes. Can you watch Cherry?" she asked. They nodded, and Relena took Paul and Milly's arms and led them a ways down the beach. They sat down in the dry sand. She gave them a brief synopsis of what happened to her prior to her showing up in Virginia Beach. When she was finished, Milly grabbed her hand.

"Oh Cass, all those things I said about you needing to get laid.. I didn't..." Relena cut her off.

"Don't worry about it, Milly. You didn't know. It's alright," she said. Milly looked very distraught.

"And those are friends of yours, from the war?" Paul asked. Relena nodded.

"My parents, well, both my blood parents and adoptive parents, were important during the war, and before, of course. Once my father was killed by OZ, my life went from a normal upbringing to being thrust into his position. And I met the Gundam Pilots. They have saved my life countless times," she said.

"Did they know you were here?" Paul asked.

"No, not until recently. My novel- it's based on something that happened between Heero and I when we met around the age of fifteen," she said. "He's clever, and they figured it out, and tracked me down," she said.

"Are they going to take you away from here?" Milly asked. Relena sighed.

"I expect that conversation will happen eventually, and right now, I have no idea what I want to do," she confessed. Paul put a hand on her shoulder.

"Whatever your decision is, you know that you will always have us if you need to escape from the pressures of being an internationally known political figure," he said. Relena thanked him quietly.

"Well hey, let's stop dwelling on the past. We were going to go to the beach party. I can get us all in for free," Milly said. Relena smiled, and they stood up from the sand, brushing it off their backsides.

"Sounds good," Relena said. And with that, her old friends and her new friends merged, leaving Relena conflicted between two people, Relena Peacecraft-Darlian and Cassandra Cooper.

-

Milly, true to her word, got the group into the beach party for free. The cover was twenty dollars per person, but they snuck in the backway. It was basically a large area, surrounded by a fence and partially covered by a tent, where there was a DJ set up, along with stage lights and a bar. Milly snagged some wristbands from one of the bouncers, wristbands which indicated special guests, and indeed, after finding out Relena's true identity, they were certainly special guests. Milly passed them out to each person and shouted over the music, "These entitle you to get as many drinks from the bar as you want for free!"

Duo barely heard the rest of what she said before he dashed off across the sand. They all laughed. Hilde shook her head and took off after Duo. Milly grabbed Relena's hand.

"Don't feel like you need to hang out with us all night, Cass, er... Relena," she said. "Spend time with your friends, but we should get together for breakfast tomorrow so you can tell me more," she said. Relena nodded.

"Of course, Milly. I never wanted to deceive you, but I never expected that they would track me down like this," she said. Milly waved it off.

"Don't worry about it. You are still the same girl I met four years ago, except for being more of a party girl than you came to us as," she said. Relena laughed. "And besides, that Heero fella is obviously madly in love with you." Relena tilted her head, watching him as he ordered drinks at the bar.

"Think so?"

"Know so," Milly replied. Relena pulled her friend into a hug, then dashed off through the sand, nearly losing her sandal, to Heero's side. When she reached his side, Heero handed her a drink.

"Sorry, I don't know what you drink these days," he said, handing her a glass of white wine.

"This is fine," she said, taking a sip. The taste triggered the memory of her early birthday with Heero. She looked up at him to find him gazing at her. Relena stepped towards him and pressed her body against his. He circled her waist with the arm that was not holding onto his drink and pulled her tightly towards him. The music was of a house techno style, and everyone under the tent was dancing and letting loose. Relena downed her glass of wine and set the glass on the bar. Heero raised an eyebrow at her.

"Let's dance," she said with a tug on his arm. Heero followed suit by downing his drink, then let himself be guided through the crowd to a somewhat open space in the sand. She threw her arms around his neck and began to sway her hips to the music. Heero placed his hands on her hips and moved with her. He felt awkward at first. This was not the kind of dancing he'd ever done with her. They'd ballroom danced before, for sure, but this was something entirely new. And in a strange way, Heero began to enjoy it. Relena's demeanor was something entirely different from the girl he knew before. She was relaxed and happy, having fun, letting herself go, swaying to the music. When she looked up at him through her eyelashes, the look in her eyes was alluring and seductive. Occasionally, she'd take his hand and spin herself around on her toes until he'd catch her with his other arm.

Then the most painful thought hit him as he danced with the girl he thought he'd lost forever. I can't ask her to go back to her old life.

-

The drinking and partying continued well into the night. Duo got wasted and puked in the ocean. Hilde had to hold his braid back, less deal with the wrath of the God of Death. Quatre had met someone and disappeared. Relena drank too much, and Heero pretended to drink too much, until he was basically carrying her. They finally left the beach party as it was beginning to disperse. Heero reminded Relena to pick up Cherry from the bouncer who she'd left the dog with. Cherry was both happy and pissed to see Relena, but she pranced along beside them anyway. Duo, Hilde, Relena and Heero stumbled down the beach, where other couples were walking, making out, or from the looks of a few, beginning to perform sexual acts in public. They laughed at this, but averted their eyes.

Relena was holding tightly onto Heero's arm, trying to walk through the sand. Heero had an arm around her, trying to keep her on her feet. However, Duo let go of Hilde, who were trailing behind, and tackled Heero and Relena down into the sand. Both came up with mouthfuls of sand.

"Duo!" Relena cried, laughing though. She rolled over and laid on her back on the sand, staring up at the stars. Duo laid next to her. Her laughing dissolved. "When you aren't a part of it, it's easy to forget about the colonies," she commented.

"Never thought about that," Duo said.

"Relena, do you need help up?" Heero asked, holding a hand out to her. Relena shook her head.

"My head is spinning," she said. Hilde caught up and collapsed across Duo and Relena's legs.

"Mine too," Hilde said. The three of them lay in the sand, staring up into space. Heero sat down beside Relena.

"Have the colonies changed?" Relena asked.

"Not really," Duo replied. "Same old, same old. You ought to come visit us up there sometime."

"I will," she said. As they lay there, they didn't notice that the waves coming off the ocean began to swell. Relena was about to say something else when an excessively large wave crashed onto the beach, completely soaking all four of them. Each one cried out in surprise and alarm. Heero jumped to his feet, his clothing sticking to his skin. Duo, Hilde and Relena were trying to untangle themselves. They were all covered in sand. Heero reached to Relena and hoisted her back onto her feet. He then helped Hilde and Duo to their feet as well.

"Ah shit man," Duo said, plucking at his clothes. Relena giggled and tried to squeeze some of the water from her hair.

"That's one way to sober up," Hilde commented, wringing sea water from her clothes.

"We should probably head home," Relena said. They all agreed, and Relena led them off the beach. Cherry followed, having missed the large wave and was still luckily dry. As they walked, they laughed and joked. Hilde had the sense to call Quatre and make sure he was alright. He said he was already at the vacation home. Slowly, in the warmth of the night, their clothing dried. Soon, they reached the point where Relena would break off to go to her own home.

"I go this way," she said, pointing down another block. "You guys are that way." Duo and Hilde began to walk, but noticed that Heero was hesitating. Relena glanced back at him. She held a hand out for his. "Walk me home?" she asked. Heero nodded. Duo and Hilde smiled knowingly, then walked their own direction while Heero and Relena disappeared around a corner.

When they reached her house, she let them in through the front door. Cherry was exhausted and immediately went to sleep on her dog bed in the living room. Relena tried to brush off the sand from her clothes before going into the house, but most of it was stuck there and required a washing.

Heero lingered near the front door. Relena placed her hands on her hips. "I hope you're not thinking of leaving me tonight," she said. Heero's mouth formed a half smile.

"It's up to you," he replied.

"Don't leave me tonight, Heero Yuy," she said, sounding more like a command. Heero knew that she was still intoxicated. He kicked off his shoes and followed her into the home. She led him upstairs to her bedroom.

"I don't really have... boy clothes," she said, stumbling into her bathroom and turning on the light.

"Mine are mostly dry by now anyway," he said. He tried not to watch, but she had left the door open. Relena stripped off her wet skirt and tank top and walked back into the bedroom wearing only a pair of panties and a bra. Heero flinched, mostly from knowing that he wasn't going to be able to control his body's reaction to seeing Relena, mostly naked in the moonlight that happened to be streaming through her window.

"Relena..." he said. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Relena laughed and turned away. Heero could see her tattoo again, snaking it's way down her back. He noticed that it disappeared under the waistband of her panties as well. He hadn't noticed that before. Relena stepped into her closet and took down a nightgown. With her back to him, she unclasped her bra and slipped the nightgown on over her head. She turned back to him, and Heero prayed that she wouldn't notice the bulge that he couldn't control.

Relena gestured to her bed. "Lay with me?" she asked. Heero nodded and stripped off his shirt and his shorts, leaving on his boxers. He did a double check to make sure everything was in its place, so to speak. Relena threw herself onto her bed, sprawling out. Heero climbed into the bed with her. They'd never made it this far before, at least, never with so few articles of clothing on. Heero had hoped that they'd eventually get there, but he thought it would be sooner, and he didn't think that Relena would be drunk. Heero laid on his back beside Relena, who was sprawled on her stomach. He could tell that she was already drifting off to sleep.

"Relena, are you comfortable like that?" he asked. She grunted a response. Her head was not even on a pillow. Heero slid down so that his head was next to hers. He bent his arm under his head and laid on his side so he could watch her. The salty smell of the ocean clung to her skin and her hair, mingled with the smell of her shampoo and perfume. Heero thought it was an amazing smell. He rested his other arm over her back and eventually, he himself drifted to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Hiding Scars

Chapter 12

When Relena woke up, she was blinded by the sunlight forcing its way through the curtains over the windows. She groaned and turned her face into the bed, trying to block out the sun. She felt a weight on the bed next to her, but it was different than the feeling of Cherry sleeping next to her. Relena turned her head in that direction and peeked through her fingers. Heero was lying next to her, on his side, facing her. His face was serene, and he snored quietly as he inhaled and exhaled. Relena grinned through the pain of her hangover. She rolled carefully onto her side and pulled her knees up to her chest. She reached out and touched Heero's nose. He grunted and moved his face to the side. Relena poked his nose again, and this time, his eyes opened slowly, taking a moment to focus on the face in front of him.

"Good morning," Relena said.

"Good morning." Heero sat up and stretched, when he noticed that, as usual when he woke up in the morning, his manhood was inevitably hard. He jumped when he noticed, which caused Relena to notice as well. She blushed pink right up to her ears.

"Ah," she said quietly. Heero jumped from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Relena couldn't help but giggle a little. She wanted him, and last night, she wanted him. But she had fallen asleep before anything happened. Though as much as she desired him, a large part of her was too nervous and afraid, even traumatized, to try and take that step with him. She knew he'd be gentle, and he would never hurt her, but she was still afraid of taking that step with anyone. That night had ruined sex for her, but she desperately wanted to forget and move on.

Relena shook her head and scolded herself. It was not the time to be thinking about that anyway. If it happened, it would happen, and she could worry about it then.

Heero opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out, and quickly grabbed his clothes off the floor and pulled them on over his boxers. Relena couldn't help but give him a crooked smile.

"Sorry about that," he mumbled as he buttoned his shorts.

"It's alright," Relena said. She laid her head back down on a pillow.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Like blah," she replied. "But I'm supposed to have breakfast with Milly this morning, so I should probably call her," Relena said, sitting back up. "I need to take a shower. My hair is crusty with salt water." She toyed with her long braid.

"I should uh, probably go back to the house to change anyway," he said. Relena nodded, and she climbed unsteadily off the bed.

"I'll walk you out." The descended the stairs together and saw Cherry waiting by the front door. Relena apologized to the dog, and opened the door. Cherry took off at a run. Heero slipped on his shoes and stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"I will call you later, if that is okay," Relena said.

"Of course." He touched her face, then kissed her gently on the lips. Relena returned the kiss, desperately wanting more, but she pulled away when he did, and he said goodbye, then left. Relena watched him go for a moment, her arms crossed over her abdomen. Her whole body felt tingly and excited. She knew that her own sex was wet with desire for this man that she had left behind, regrettably, so many years ago. But when her thoughts turned to try and figure out what to do about the future, she only felt anxiety. She pushed the thoughts away and went in search of her phone to call Milly.

-

Heero walked the ten minutes to the vacation house, hands in his pockets, staring at the ground as he walked. His thoughts were all in turmoil. In his excitement to locate Relena, he had not expected the emotions he would feel once he saw her again, touched her, kissed her, slept beside her at night. He never wanted to leave her side. Once again, the thought from last night bugged him._ I can't ask her to leave this life and return to what she was. She's too happy here._

When Heero arrived at the vacation house, it appeared that everyone was still asleep. Heero climbed the steps and took a shower, shaking sand out of all manners of places on his body, then dressed in some clean clothes from his suitcase. Heero sat on his bed for a few minutes, contemplating, then finally made a decision to call the one man who could either help or ruin the whole situation, depending on how he was feeling that day. Heero went back down to the living room and sat down in front of the vid screen. The sign on the phone stated no long distance calls. Heero snorted. He would pay back Quatre if he had to. Heero dialed up the connection to the ship currently orbiting Mars.

It took a moment, but soon, Zechs' face appeared on the vid screen. The connection wasn't great, so his image was fuzzy, but Heero would recognize that long, blonde hair anywhere.

"Yuy," he said.

"Hello Zechs," Heero said.

"I have to say I'm surprised that you are calling me," he said. Heero nodded.

"I know. But I thought I should let you in on something that was recently discovered," Heero said. Zechs raised an eyebrow.

"Go on," he said.

"We found Relena," Heero began. Zechs' entire face changed, from startled to happy, to overjoyed.

"You _found_ her!" he repeated.

"Yes, in America. She went into hiding with the help of Lady Une," Heero said.

"Why?"

"I think it's best if she tells you herself. It is not my place to say anything," Heero said. "Either way, she disappeared for her own good, but we tracked her down."

"This is great news," Zechs said. "How is she?"

"Well, this is where my dilemma begins," Heero said. "She is happy, incredibly happy. Before she disappeared, Relena hardly ever laughed or smiled, at least not really smiled. Here, she is carefree and happy and laughs all the time. She even has a tattoo- a large tattoo, on her back," Heero told him. Zechs arched an eyebrow once again. The similarities between himself and his sister were uncanny.

"A tattoo? I never expected that from her," Zechs said. "So the dilemma?"

"I don't think we can ask her to come back to her old life. As Vice Foreign Minister. So far, I haven't seen any indication that she misses that life at all, except for missing her friends. But do we just leave her here in three weeks when our vacation is over?" Heero said. Zechs contemplated this.

"I don't know, Yuy," he said. Heero sighed. That was not the response he wanted to hear. "It will be up to her. I think you should ask, and if she says no, then drop it and let her live her life she has made for herself there. I don't blame her at all for her actions. That's why I did my best to make sure I'd never get caught in that situation of becoming a leader, of course, I never really considered the fact that Relena would have to step up and take over," he said. "I have go to, but keep me updated. And tell her to call up here, if she wants. Noin and I would love to talk to her again," he said. Heero nodded.

"Thanks," Heero said. The connection ended, and Heero leaned back in the chair. Where he had expected answers, he only got more questions. He began to hear movement in some of the rooms. His friends were beginning to wake. Heero walked into the kitchen and started up the coffee machine. He was no cook, but he could at least make coffee.

-

Relena had gotten home from breakfast with Milly several hours earlier, but she was still sitting on her back deck, staring off into the distance. Cherry was curled up beside her, as usual, and Relena's phone was sitting just half an arm's length away. She wanted to call Heero, but she was resisting, as she needed to figure out things on her own first.

She knew the inevitable conversation was going to come, about whether or not she should return to her former life. She knew it would be difficult to pick up where she left off, as there probably had been much undone and many things covered in dust since she left. She didn't even know if someone had been put into her position to replace her. Relena tried to push away all thoughts of what everyone else would want her to do, and tried to focus on what she wanted.

But she didn't know. She wanted both. She wanted everything. She wanted to change the world, go home at night and party with Milly and Paul on the beach. She wanted to be a writer, and a politician. She wanted it all. She wanted pressed suits and a nice leather briefcase, and she wanted the beach, bikinis and the sun.

There was one thing she knew for sure: she wanted Heero. Selfishly, she wanted him to just stay with her there in Virginia Beach. She could be Relena to him, and Cassandra Cooper to the rest of the world. Relena pulled her knees up to her chest and circled them with her arms. She rested her forehead against her knees and after a few minutes, dozed off.

_She was looking in the mirror again. A younger version of herself was her reflection. Current Relena ran her hands through her long, red hair, and her reflection ran her hands through her long blonde hair. "It doesn't matter what color your hair is," the reflection said. "You can change your outside all you want, but you will never change your insides," she added. The reflection reached up and pointed a finger at her own heart. "This is still the same," she moved her finger up to her head. "And this is still the same." The vision wavered, and Relena was standing in her old bedroom, looking on at a rape that was occurring on her bed. She was watching what happened to her from the outside. It made Relena feel sick to watch it happen, to watch the blood, the tears and the look of evil pleasure on the face of her attacker. Just when Relena was about to vomit..._

Relena snapped her head up and looked around. Cherry had lifted her head off her paws and was staring at her. "What an awful dream," she commented, stretching her arms and legs out. She rose up from the chair and began to pace, rubbing her eyes to chase away the sleep. "What would Relena Peacecraft-Darlian do?" she wondered aloud. Cherry never answered Relena when she talked to her, but at least Relena felt like Cherry was listening. "Relena Peacecraft-Darlian ran away though," she continued. "She ran away to hide from what happened. Why?" _Because he threatened your friends._ "My friends are former soldiers, trained in all manner of weapons and self defense." _He threatened you._ "I can use a gun."_ He might come back and try to rape you again, if he ever finds out that you are back in town._ "I will have protection this time." _Then why did you run?_ "I..."_ Well? What's the answer? Why did you run away_? "I was scared. I was too scared to try and fight back. Fighting back is all I ever do, but not in physical situations. I've always had someone to fight my physical battles for me." _Did you ever consider fighting back in the way you know how?_ "Wait a minute..."_ There you go, Relena_._ He attacked you physically, why didn't you fight back mentally?_ "That's... not right." _Rape is not right._ "Rape is not okay, but making a psychopath known to the world is right. Making sure that any young woman knows what to watch out for, and what to do in a situation like that. I've always used words to fight my battles, and I could do it again."

Relena stopped pacing. The voice of her conscious disappeared. It had no response. She finally figured out what she had known all along, but refused to realize. "Even if I don't take up my old position, there is a lot of good I could do," Relena said to herself. She felt good. Her anxiety was ebbing away, like the tide lowering off the beach. "I think I know what I have to do, Cherry!" Relena said, kneeling down and hugging the dog around the neck. Cherry didn't know what that was, but she licked Relena's cheek anyway.

-

The first call she made was to Lady Une.

"Hello Miss Relena," Lady Une said. "What can I help you with? I hope Heero and the others aren't bothering you too much."

"No, no. That's not it. I was calling to say that I have made the decision to return to my life as Relena Darlian," Relena said.

"Really?" Lady Une sounded surprised. "They didn't force you to make this decision, did they?"

"I made the decision on my own. They hadn't even said anything to me about it yet, though I knew they will say something eventually. I need a favor though. I need someone to work for me in New Port City. I want my old home sold, along with most of the items there. I will start over somewhere else," Relena said.

"Wow. You are sounding more like the old Relena already. I will hire someone as your assistant and have that person get to work. If you have a list of items you want to keep, send me an email with that information. You'll have to give me a couple of days to hire someone," she said.

"Sure. I'm not going to say anything to them yet. I want them to enjoy their vacation, and I want to enjoy spending time with them," Relena said.

"Of course. I will call you soon when I have someone for you to work with," Lady Une said.

"Thank you. Good bye." Relena hung up her phone. She was jittery with excitement. It was going to be difficult for her not to completely spill her plans to her friends that next time she saw them. She did feel a pang of guilt about leaving Milly and Paul, but Relena was considering keeping the house, and using it as a vacation home whenever she wanted to get away. She would also keep her rental homes, though she would have to hire a manager before leaving. Relena's anxiety began to swell again as she thought about all the things she would need to do before leaving. She tried to calm herself down by telling herself that it all did not need to be done today. Some of it could wait. However, she had to get it all out of her head, so she went inside and began to make lists.


	13. Chapter 13

Hiding Scars

Chapter 13

A/N: Mature content ahead!

"I'm surprised we haven't heard from Relena yet today," Duo said, leaning back in the chair in the dining room. "You said she was going to call you, right?" he asked Heero. Heero nodded in response, trying not to pick up his phone and check again, to make sure she hadn't tried to contact him.

"She's probably busy," Quatre said. "Can't expect her to be with us every waking moment." The others shrugged. They sat in silence for a few minutes, but a dog's bark caught their attention. A moment later, the doorbell was ringing. Heero was the first to his feet, nearly tripping over a chair in his haste to get to the door. He wrenched it open. He was happy to see Relena and Cherry on the other side of the door. Relena was smiling.

"Sorry I didn't call. I got caught up doing some work," she said. Heero dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"It's alright," he said, moving aside to allow her into the house. Relena looked around.

"This is a nice house. Too bad someone already has it, otherwise I'd add it to my stock," she commented. She was greeted by the rest. Heero stepped back to admire her once more. She'd chosen a pair of loose shorts, a slightly oversized tank top, and her hair was in its long braid. She wore sandals on her feet as well, and a bag slung across her chest, which rested at her hip. After saying hello to her friends, she clapped her hands together.

"So, I hope you haven't eaten in a while," she said. "Tonight is the Seafood Cook off! It's at the beach. I thought it would be fun to go to. Last year, it was a huge hit, and this year, they have even more cooks from all over the country, and some from other countries, here to show off their seafood cooking skills. There's tasting, drinks of course," she winked at Duo, "and everyone gets to vote on their favorites and there's a prize and all that. Are you all interested?"

All answered to the affirmative, so after a few minutes, they were ready to leave the house. Duo took charge of walking Cherry. Heero fell into step beside Relena.

"How was breakfast this morning?" he asked her.

"It was fine. I just told them more about what happened, and we talked about a lot of different things. Milly was my first friend here, so I wanted to make sure I smoothed everything over after basically lying to her for the last four years," Relena said.

"Makes sense." Heero could tell that Relena was in a really good mood, and she seemed excitable. His hands itched to touch her, so he reached over and rested a hand on her hip, pulling her closer to him as they walked. Relena did not resist.

As they walked, Heero made up his mind to tell her that he called her brother. "I called Zechs this morning," Heero confessed.

"You did?" Relena looked surprised. "You don't like each other."

"I know, but I wanted to tell him that we had found you. He and Noin are still up in space," he said. "He told me to tell you that if you wanted to call him sometime, he and Noin would like that."

"I should. He could have kept my secret if I had told him why I was disappearing before, but let's be honest. He disappeared from me without so much as a word, so he kind of deserves it, right?" Relena said, laughing.

"Right," Heero replied. He was still amazed at how easily they seemed to have picked up where they left off. It was almost like they'd been together for the last couple of years. Heero opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. He realized he was about to try and tell her that he loved her. Now is not the time, he told himself. Besides, the thought of saying it, and the possibility of rejection made him too afraid to say anything.

The group of friends finally reached the beach, and it was already crowded with food stands and people. They chose a stand and got in line to get a taste of the food. As Relena stood next to Heero, she felt a chill go up her spine. She cringed slightly, and Heero looked down at her.

"Relena?" he asked. Relena looked up.

"Sorry, I had a chill or something," she said. But it wasn't just a chill. A bad feeling began to scratch at her. She looked around, feeling like there were eyes staring into the back of her head. But she didn't see anything. She did not meet anyone's eyes. Cherry padded to her side. The dog could sense something, too, or was reacting to her owner's discomfort. Cherry was staring across the beach. Relena reached down and put her hand on Cherry's head.

"It's okay Cherry," she said, but the dog began to growl. Heero noticed as well.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Something isn't right," Relena said. She turned again and scanned the beach with her eyes, trying to pick out anything unusual. Cherry continued to growl a low rumbling sound from deep in her throat. For a moment, everything seemed to slow down, the sounds around her muffled, and she saw a man in the crowd, staring at her, a look of disturbing happiness on his face. Cherry's growling got louder. Relena stared in surprise at the face, though it was one she did not recognize. She never did see her attacker's face. Before Relena could say anything, darkness enveloped her vision.

Heero sensed something was wrong and turned to Relena just as her knees gave way beneath her. He reached out quickly and caught her before she slipped to the ground. Quatre, Duo and Hilde all turned around at the movement.

"What's going on?" Quatre asked. "She's passed out!" he said after looking at Relena's face. Heero lifted her up into his arms.

"Is she alright?" Hilde asked. Heero stepped out of line, followed by the others, and found an empty spot in the sand where he could set her down. He lifted her head so it rested in his lap. Cherry laid down beside her with her face on Relena's stomach. Hilde kneeled beside her and pressed a hand to Relena's forehead.

"She's cold and clammy," Hilde reported.

"Something scared her," Heero said. "She was looking around in the crowd, and I heard her say 'no,' then she passed out." Duo's hand moved slowly to rest at the small of his back, where Heero knew that he kept his gun. Duo stepped a few feet away, towards where they had been standing, and scanned the area. Quatre arrived with a bottle of water. He poured a little on his hands and splashed Relena's face. She moaned and opened her eyes.

She was looking up at Heero, Hilde and Quatre's concerned faces. The movement around her was normal, and all the sounds of the festival were back to normal as well. "What happened?" she asked.

"You passed out," Hilde said, taking Relena's hand in her own. "What did you see?" Relena closed her eyes and used her other hand to wipe her face.

"I saw someone in the crowd, staring at me. Everything slowed down and I..." she didn't know what else to say. She sat up. The anxious fear she felt before was gone.

"Should we leave?" Duo asked, returning to the group. Relena shook her head.

"No, it's fine. It was probably just my imagination. Haven't been on my normal sleeping schedule and all that lately," she said. The looks her friends gave her indicated that they didn't believe her, but none of them questioned her. Duo held a hand out to Relena, and she took it. He hoisted her to her feet, and Heero stood up behind her, brushing sand off his clothes. Relena did the same.

"Let's just forget about this and have a good time," she said determinedly, and set off down the beach. Her friends had no choice but to follow her.

Though the evening started off rough, they ended up having a good time tasting food and voting for their favorites. Relena acted as if nothing happened, and her friends respected that. Heero continued to brood, worried that perhaps whatever sicko had attacked her had finally followed her to Virginia Beach, but he had no proof of anything.

Later on, the group found themselves drawn to a large bonfire on the beach. They took seats in the sand and watched the flames. Relena sat beside Quatre, and the two eventually began to talk in hushed whispers like they used to, with Quatre giving her an update about the state of things in the political world. Heero sat beside her, his hand holding hers, watching the dancing flames of the fire. Duo and Hilde had disappeared somewhere. Heero didn't want think about what they might be doing.

Cherry sat down beside Heero and licked his cheek. He turned to face the dog, rubbing the dog slobber off his face. Cherry was looking at him, the flames reflected back in her big brown eyes. She tilted her head slightly. Heero reached up and began to pet her. She continued to stare at him, head tilted. Heero was beginning to think that this was rather odd behavior for a dog. "We both have to watch out for our girl, don't we," he said to Cherry. Cherry barked, then settled down beside Heero, a paw on his leg.

After a while, Relena began to nod off, her head falling to rest on Heero's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. Quatre smiled. A little while later, Duo and Hilde appeared behind them, having come back from whatever they had been doing. Both were a little flushed, and Heero hoped it was from running or walking briskly. As the night wore on, they finally decided to head home. Heero gently shook Relena's shoulder until she woke up, and they proceeded to walk home. Once again, Heero walked with Relena to her house while the others when their own way to the vacation home.

This time, Heero did not hesitate on the doorstep. He walked into the house behind her. Relena kicked off her shoes and stretched her arms over her head and yawned. She motioned for Heero to follow her up the stairs. Relena didn't turn her bedroom light on. The moonlight through the curtains was enough light for her. She turned to him and stepped into his arms.

"Heero..." she began, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I want to... you know... " she said, trailing off. She found it difficult to clearly state what she wanted. Heero seemed to understand however, as he tightened his hold on her and pressed his lips down on her own. It didn't take long for both to begin to feel hot, and their hands began to wildly explore each other, from the hair, to the neck, to the back, to the chest. Heero lifted Relena up in the air, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her to the bed and gently laid her down on her back. He climbed on the bed as well, his knees on either side of her hips. He stopped kissing her for a moment and stared into her eyes. He was a mixture of desire and fear. He reached up and pushed a stray lock of red hair away from her face.

"It's alright Relena," he said, leaning close to her ear. "I'll be gentle." Relena's hands snaked back up around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. Heero's hands felt for the hem of her shirt, and began to push it up over her, his hands sliding against her stomach, then over her breasts. She released her hold on him to allow him to pull the shirt up over her head. He tossed it to the side. Heero backed up a little ways, his eyes trailing over her chest. He tugged down her skirt and panties, revealing her surprisingly shaved pubic region. Desire consumed him, more than he ever imagined it could. She was so beautiful. Relena was still staring up at him. Carefully, Heero reached behind her and unclasped her bra, tossing that to the side as well. Now, his princess was completely naked underneath him. His hands drifted to her breasts, where they stopped and gently massaged, his fingers plucking playfully at her nipples. She gasped at the touch. Relena reached up and unbuttoned his shirt and slid it over his shoulders and down his arms. Heero let it drop to the side of the bed and onto the floor. Relena's hands hesitated near the buckle of his belt. Heero gave her a reassuring kiss, so she released the belt and unbuttoned and unzipped the closures on his shorts. Heero lifted up and kicked the shorts off. From under his boxers, his manhood stood out. Relena touched it over his boxers, and Heero closed his eyes and let out a breath. He badly wanted her to continue.

Relena reached up and pushed down the waistband of his boxers so that they would slide down. Heero helped her, then he kicked them off. Now, both lying naked in her bed, they seemed to be at a loss. Relena was still feeling anxious and nervous. Her only experience with sex had been pain and humiliation. Even though she was completely comfortable with Heero, she was nervous and afraid to go one.

"Do you want to stop?" he asked her, seeing the unsure look on her face. She shook her head.

"No, I want to keep going. I just..." She felt silly, being unable to say what she wanted to say. She had fantasized about this moment for a long time, and now that it was here, she didn't know what to do.

"Let me lead you," he said. "If I do anything you don't like, just say so, and I'll stop, okay?" Relena nodded in agreement. Heero lowered down and began to kiss and suck at her breasts. One hand trailed down her stomach to the place between her legs. Carefully, he placed a finger there and began to rub, until his finger slipped up inside. Relena gasped, but her face did not show pain. Heero began to pleasure her with his finger, and when she seemed like she was enjoying it, he slipped in another finger. She gasped sharply at three, so he went back to two. He continued to rub her on the inside until her breath quickened and her back arched. She was grabbing onto the blankets on her bed, the fabric crushed beneath her fingers. She let out a loud gasp, mingled with Heero's name. Heero stopped and withdrew his hand. Relena had a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. She looked up at him with her blue eyes, already lidded in pleasure.

"That was... not what I expected," she confessed. Heero smiled and kissed her.

"Do you want to go further?" he asked her. She nodded, and his hand felt between her legs again. He lowered his hips down and carefully guided himself to her. "This might hurt for a moment," he said. She nodded and seemed to brace herself. He pushed gently, sliding in easily. She bit her lip in pain, but she didn't cry out. Once Heero had gone in enough to press his hips against hers, he began the slow, steady movement of thrusting in and out of her. Relena seemed unsure at first, but soon, her arms were on his back, grabbing. Heero sucked at her breasts again, and her fingers tangled themselves in his hair. He pressed his forehead against her own and looked into her eyes. She was smiling. He smiled, too.

After they both reached their climax, Heero lifted himself off of her and retreated into the bathroom. He came back a moment later and pulled his boxers. Relena was still lying on the bed, relishing in the pleasure she didn't know she could feel. Heero laid down beside her.

"Thank you," she said. Heero laughed.

"Why are you thanking me?" he asked her.

"For relieving my fear of sex," she answered. Heero smiled and kissed her. She rolled over onto her stomach and cradled her head in her arms. Heero could see where the tattoo ended. It touched near the top of her butt, then twisted over to her hip, where it finally came to an end. He adjusted his position so he could inspect the tattoo once more. He traced vines and flowers along her back. She squirmed and giggled, claiming that he was tickling her.

"Do you think that you'll add more to it?" he asked her. Relena shrugged.

"Not sure. I kind of like it the way it is," she said. Heero laid down beside her and pulled her against his chest until they were spooning. Heero stroked Relena's hair until her breathing deepened, and he knew she was asleep. Only then did he allow his eyes to close as well.


	14. Chapter 14

Hiding Scars

Chapter 14

A/N: Oh my goodness everyone- this story is long. Sorry! I haven't finished writing the text yet, but I have a good like- maybe 6 chapters all written. I've been stuck at one point but managed to get past it this weekend so hopefully I can get this finished. I literally have so many other story ideas rolling around in my head and filling up a notebook right now. And of course, when I try to write a simple 1xR story, it ends up being some long, involved thing. Ah well. Hope you are still enjoying 'Hiding Scars'!

****_Relena was stuck. She couldn't move. It was like her feet were glued to the ground, which was ridiculous, because she was standing in sand. A man was staring at her, his eyes gleaming, his mouth curved up into a wicked smile. Relena tried to pull her feet up, but she was simply stuck right there. The man was approaching her, and quickly. Relena increased her efforts to move. He kept coming forward, closer and closer. He reached for her neck and clasped his hands around it and started to squeeze..._

Relena jerked away. Her hands immediately went for her neck, where she found her braid had fallen over and was stuck under her arm, putting a slight pressure against her neck. She sat up and tried to calm her nerves, but her heart was racing and her head was spinning. She also realized that she was still naked. Beside her, Heero was sleeping peacefully. Relena glanced at her alarm clock, which showed the time as 4:18 am. She groaned and climbed out of bed. She crossed to her closet and found the nightgown she had worn the night before. She slipped it on and pulled on a clean pair panties. She was too restless to go back to bed, however, but she worried that Heero might wake up and catch her roaming her own house. She thought the action was strange, and she felt weird doing it, even if she was the only one there. But sometimes it comforted her to wander around and touch various objects. She decided she didn't care, and left the room and walked quietly down the steps, dodging the squeaky spots in the stairs. When she reached the first floor, she began her wander, picking up books and cups and pictures. She stopped in the kitchen and drank a glass of water. When she walked back into the living room, Cherry was awake. She was standing at a window, growling. Relena walked up to her and looked out, too.

"What's wrong, Cherry?" Relena asked. Cherry continued to growl. Relena moved to a different window and looked out. She thought she saw a movement, or some shadow. It wasn't normal for Cherry to react to nothing. Relena wondered if there was another animal outside. She wandered from window to window, peeking through the curtains. Cherry followed her, the low growl rumblings in her throat.

Relena stepped up to the window beside her front door and carefully pulled aside the curtain. When she looked out, the face from her dream was staring back at her, a snarl on his face. Relena stepped back and tripped over her own feet, screaming. She fell hard into her back, the scream still flying from her throat. She pushed herself backwards away from the door. Cherry barked over and over again, the hair on her back raised up. A pounding of feet on the stairs added to the cacophony, and in a moment, Heero was beside her, wearing only his boxers, his gun in his hand.

"Relena," he said, kneeling beside her. Relena stopped screaming and clutched her arms around his neck. "Relena, what happened?" he asked. Relena couldn't speak, but pointed at the window where Cherry was still barking. Heero dislodged her arms from his neck and he rose, his gun held tightly between his two hands. He moved the curtain aside with the barrel, and looked out. A man was walking calmly away from the house down the walkway that led to the sidewalk. He threw a glance back and caught Heero's eye. Heero memorized the man's face as quickly as he could, including the evil glint in his eyes. Heero mind flitted between running after the man or staying at the house to protect Relena. When he looked at her huddled mass on the floor, tears falling down her cheeks and her chest heaving rapidly in anxiety and panic, he knew he couldn't leave her. The man would have to wait.

Heero checked the doors and windows to be sure they were all locked. Only then did he return to Relena. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to the couch. He sat down, cradling her in his lap. She pressed her face to his shoulder, her knees drawn to her chest. Cherry hopped up on the couch beside them and rested her head on Heero's knee. Relena's breathing was still rapid, and her tears and sobs came out in harsh breaths and choking sounds. Heero calmed himself so that she wouldn't pick up on his own anger. He gently stroked her hair, whispering words to her to try and calm her down.

After a while, her breathing slowed and the tears dried. "It was him," she whispered.

"Who?"

"The same man I saw at the beach. The man who attacked me..."

"I thought you didn't see his face," Heero said.

"I didn't, but I know it was him. He found me. Probably the same why you found me. How could I have been so stupid?"

"No, no," Heero said, tightening his grip on her shaking body. "You're not stupid." Heero wanted to tell her that only someone as insane and obsessed as that man would have been able to find her through the book, but he had to stop himself, knowing it would only make her uncomfortable.

Her panic wore her out after a while, and she eventually fell into a restless sleep against his shoulder. He carefully carried her back up to her bedroom and laid her on the bed. He dug his cell phone out of his jeans and walked out to the hallway and dialed Lady Une's number.

"Yuy," she said in a cold voice when she picked up the phone.

"Une," he replied. "This situation has gotten dangerous. I need all the information you have about Relena's stalker tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone was just walking around her house, looking in through her windows," he said.

"How do you know it's the same guy?"

"Relena knows," was his response. He knew it was a weak one, but he had to try. He heard Lady Une sigh.

"If you truly feel that her life is in danger, whether it's the same guy or not, then I will send you my documentation about the incident," Lady Une conceded at last.

"Thank you," Heero said. "And I am sorry about the way I acted before," he added.

"I understand," she replied. "I'll pull everything together and send it over as soon as I can."

Heero thanked her again and they disconnected their call. Heero wanted to rush back to the vacation house to get his laptop, but he couldn't leave Relena. He instead climbed back into bed with her and wrapped his body protectively around her.

-

Relena woke up in the morning feeling like she hadn't slept at all. She carefully dislodged herself from Heero and climbed out of her bed, not remembering how she made it back up to her bedroom. She walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy, and there were dark circles etched into her skin. She frowned at herself, then traced a finger down a wrinkle that appeared. It was still a faint line, but she knew it would grow deeper as time went on. Shaking her head, she stepped away from the mirror and turned the water on in the shower to try and wash away the memory of the night before.

Heero woke up when he heard the shower turn on. A moment later, his phone began to ring. He picked it up and saw that it was Duo.

"Hi Duo," he said.

"Hey buddy. We're gonna grab breakfast. Do you and Relena want to meet up?" he asked.

"She's in the shower, but I'm sure that will be fine."

"Awesome!" Duo gave Heero the details of where they were going, then disconnected. When Relena stepped out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam, wrapped in a towel, Heero climbed off the bed and circled his arms around her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. She nodded, her forehead resting against his chest. "Do you want to get breakfast with the others?"

"Yes. Maybe it'll help get my mind off everything," she said. Heero nodded and let go of her. She dressed quickly in shorts and a t-shirt, and they left together.

During breakfast, Heero quietly asked Hilde to suggest to Relena that they go shopping or something, and have some girl time. When Hilde asked why, Heero just shook his head and told her that he would explain later. Relena didn't mention the events of the night to anyone, so Heero didn't either. He would tell them later on when Relena wasn't there. Hilde agreed to suggest it to Relena, and once breakfast was over, the girls left together to shop and get their nails done. Quatre suggested going to the festival events for the day, until of course, Heero told them what happened during the night. The three of them spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon pouring over the documents that Lady Une had sent Heero.

Her file about the stalker and the incident after Relena's birthday was nothing short of disturbing. Une had scanned in some of the notes that the stalker had sent Relena, each one more awful than the last. The tension in the house as the three boys read the notes grew during each one, as they shook with rage over the man who felt like he could defile Relena. But the worst had yet to come.

The was a folder titled "Pictures." Heero opened it hesitantly. Right from the beginning, the three former pilots were stunned.

Relena had taken pictures of her bed, where blood stained the sheets. There were pictures of her wrists and ankles, marked from being bound to the bed. She'd even gotten pictures of the words cruelly etched into her back, before and after she wiped away the dried and crusted blood. There were pictures of the bruises on her body. After they looked at the last picture, the three of them agreed that they needed a break. None of them spoke much as they drove out to the beach area, and they hardly spoke or smiled as they walked along, looking for a place to eat. They eventually chose a place, ordered food and sat down at a small table to eat, though none of them were particularly hungry.

"I don't blame her for running," Quatre said quietly between bites of his sandwich. The other two nodded solemnly.

"I may break my promise I made to Relena," Heero confessed. He was holding his spoon for his soup so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

"To never kill again?" Duo asked, and Heero nodded in response. "Only if you get to him before I do."

"And he might be here, somewhere," Quatre mused. The mood at the table darkened more as the three of them thought through that knowledge.

"He can't be perfect. There has to be evidence somewhere," Duo said. "He has to have made a mistake."

"We just have to keep looking," Quatre said, absently nodding his head over and over. The rest of the meal was spent in silence.

On the way back to the house, Duo's phone rang.

"Hi baby," he said.

"Hey! We're done with our nails. What are you guys up to?" she asked him.

"Keep stalling her. We need more time," Duo said.

"Why?" Hilde asked, both suspicious and concerned.

"It has to do with the reason she disappeared. We're looking into it. Just keep her busy," Duo said. The emotion in his voice told Hilde the situation was serious.

"Alright," she said, then hung up her phone.


	15. Chapter 15

Hiding Scars

Chapter 15

A/N: If we've been bored, this chapter might remedy that.

-

"The boys are distracted by something, so Duo said we should just keep having a girls day!" Hilde said, walking back to Relena. They were back at Relena's house. She'd wanted to drop off her new clothes.

"Well, we could take Milly and her kids to the fair. They'd enjoy that," Relena suggested. Hilde nodded, though she would have nodded to any suggestion. Relena went to Milly's house and knocked on the door. One of the children pulled the door open, and cried,

"MOM! CASS IS HERE!" Milly shouted back from somewhere in the house that she'd be there in a minute. Relena and Hilde stepped inside the air conditioned house to escape the summer heat for a moment. Milly eventually appeared.

"Hey girls," she said by way of greeting. "What's up?"

"We just wondered if you and the kids wanted to go to the fair," Relena said. Milly looked contemplative for a moment.

"Actually, if you wanted to take them and get them out of my hair, I would be able to get some stuff done around here for once," Milly said.

"That's fine," Relena said with a smile. Milly looked appreciative, and she yelled to her kids to come to the door. Milly dug in her purse for some cash, which Relena tried to reject, but Milly insisted.

"It's enough that you're just taking them. I can't make you pay for them, too," Milly said with a laugh. Soon, the two kids were ready to go, so Relena and Hilde piled them into Relena's car, and they drove off to the fair.

-

The boys sat around the dining room table at the vacation house brainstorming. They'd already decided that Relena needed to be protected anytime she was at her house. They couldn't know the extent to which this stalker knew about her life in Virginia Beach.

"Shouldn't one of us be with her now?" Quatre asked.

"Hilde texted me saying they were going to the fair with Relena's neighbor's kids. It's a public place with a lot of people around. I think they'll be okay. I let Hilde in on what was going on so that she could keep her eyes open," Duo said. They fell silent again. Heero was tapping a pen against the table, his other hand holding up his head. His eyes were closed, but he was not sleeping. He was trying to imagine a way to lure in this stalker so they could catch him. The main problem was finding a way to do it without endangering Relena's life more. And the longer he thought about it, the more he felt like he was out of touch with his former abilities as a gundam pilot. The thought nagged at him in the back of his mind, no matter how much he tried to push it away.

-

Hilde had noticed that someone was following them about an hour ago. She didn't mention anything to Relena, who was having fun with her neighbors' children. Every once in awhile, Hilde would feign stretching or looking around for something, just to catch a glimpse of this person's face, to register where he was and how far away he was from them. Hilde wanted to believe that this person wouldn't do anything while they had two children with them, but if it was the same sicko that attacked Relena, there was no telling what he might or might not do.

While they waited in line for a ride, the man following them got detained by the crowd. Hilde took this chance to call Duo.

"Hey Duo," Hilde said, trying to come up with a discrete way of speaking to him without Relena catching on. "I think that you guys should come out to the fair. It would be a lot more fun if you were here," she said.

"Is something wrong?" Duo asked, catching on to her tone of voice.

"Oh come on! Maybe you can win me a teddy bear or something at one of those games. You're always so good at calling out rigged games," she said. She heard Duo say something to the guys.

"We're on our way. I'll call you again when we get there," he said.

-

"I'm not sure what is going on at the fair or what Hilde was trying to say, but we need to go there," Duo said.

"What did she say?" Heero asked.

"Well, she was talking like she was trying to convince us to go up to the fair, but it was her tone of voice. Something is wrong," he said.

"Do you think they're in danger?" Quatre asked.

"I think that is one of the only reasons she would call and act like that," Duo said. Quatre and Heero nodded, and in another moment, they were in their rented vehicle, speeding off towards the fair.

-

It took some time, but Hilde eventually convinced Relena and the kids to ride the Ferris wheel. She felt like it would be safe, because at least they would be moving and monitored by the ride operator, even if the ride operator looked a little shady. Her companions eventually agreed and they got in line to ride. Hilde noticed the man following them had gotten in line as well, but he was several people away from them. Hilde tried to hide her nervousness from Relena by chatting about the amusement park she and Duo went to on their honeymoon.

Finally, they were at the front of the line and were escorted to one of the seats. The four of them climbed in and the wheel started to move again. Hilde watched the crowd for the man, and she saw him watching them. She looked away quickly, hoping she didn't accidentally make eye contact with him. Otherwise, he would know she was on to him. And with him so close, she didn't want him to get away before the guys could show up. The Ferris wheel took several turns around, while Relena and the kids laughed and pointed out various places in the distance. As the wheel was slowing and allowing people to get off the ride, Hilde's phone rang. It was Duo, letting her know that they had arrived at the fair. Hilde informed him that they were at the Ferris wheel, and then the two disconnected the call.

Once Hilde, Relena and the kids were off the Ferris wheel, Hilde looked back up at it. The man following them was stuck at the top, and he was staring down at them from his seat. Hilde grinned and led her charges a little ways away from the ride. A moment later, Heero, Quatre and Duo appeared in the crowd and forced their way over to them.

"I'm glad you guys decided to show up!" Hilde said, winking at Duo. Duo kissed her.

"Well, we weren't really doing anything else, so we figured we might as well indulge your wishes," Duo said.

"What were you boys even doing?" Relena asked. There was a moment's hesitation while they tried to work out a story to tell her.

"We were relaxing at the house and got caught up in a marathon of movies on TV," Quatre said. "Jet lag is still kind of affecting us," he added.

"Well I'm glad you got a chance to relax," Relena said. "Hilde and I have been having a great time with the kids," she said. Heero smiled at her, then stepped up to her side and laced her arm through his. She was flattered at his gesture, but to Heero, he was pulling her into protection. Duo noticed a drink cart and pulled Hilde with him to get a drink.

"What's the situation?" Duo asked her once they were safely away from Relena.

"I noticed a while ago that someone was following us around the fair. I kept tabs on him as often as I could. I didn't tell Relena," Hilde explained. "I don't know who he is but he has definitely been following us and watching Relena." Duo scrunched his nose.

"We were going through the file that Une had about all this. If this is the guy, he's a sick bastard," Duo said, his eyes dark and serious. Hilde nodded, then turned and looked up at the Ferris wheel. The man was two spots back from the car that was currently unloading. Hilde nodded in that direction.

"That's him, there," she said. Duo looked over, casually, and saw the man sitting in the Ferris wheel.

"Alright," he said. "We have to walk, but we can't make it look like we're with you. Go pull Relena and the kids on ahead, and we'll follow behind," Duo said. Hilde nodded and left his side. As she was walking back towards the group, she spotted a haunted house attraction. She jogged to Relena and pulled her arm away from Heero.

"There's a haunted house over there! Let's go!" Hilde said. The kids jumped up and down and clapped their hands. Relena sighed dramatically and agreed. Hilde glanced back at Quatre and Heero and winked, then nodded to Duo, who was walking back to them with a paper cup in hand. Hilde dashed off with Relena and the kids. Duo called to them to wait. He stood with them, and waited until he saw the man Hilde pointed out cross by.

"That's the man that's been following Relena and Hilde," Duo said, nodding his head towards the guy. Duo felt Heero's body twitch like he was about to start moving, but Duo clapped a hand on Heero's shoulder.

"You can't just run up and start beating the guy senseless in the middle of the area. You'll be arrested," Duo said. Heero stopped his pursuit, knowing that Duo was correct.

"What do we do?" Quatre asked, his eyes focused on the man currently pushing his way through the crowd towards Relena and Hilde.

"We have to keep an eye on him and try to find a way to corner him," Heero said.

"But we have to be careful. If we try to question him, he's going to deny everything," Duo said. The man was a good distance away, so Duo motioned for the guys to start walking.

"He needs to do something that warrants us stopping him," Heero said. They were silent for a moment while they thought this over.

"I could run into him like I'm drunk," Duo said. "Maybe he'll fight back or something." Quatre shrugged.

"It's worth a try."

The guys waited until Relena and Hilde were inside of the haunted house. The guy was waiting in line for it as well, but once again was caught behind several other people waiting to get inside. Duo began to stumble around nearby, drinking from his cup, which only contained soda. Heero placed himself nearby, ready to shove Duo into the man stalking Relena. Quatre stood in line at the haunted house.

Duo stumbled into Heero, who yelled at him and shoved him. Duo, light on his feet, guided his stumble into their target. With an added push with his foot off the ground, he ensured that the collision would bring them both to the ground. Duo smacked hard into him, and they tumbled to the dirty concrete ground. The other people in line dodged out of the way. Duo landed on top of the guy, who began to swear and curse at Duo.

"Hey man... I'm sooooo sorry," Duo said, imitating his best drunken stupor voice. The man shoved Duo off of him.

"What's wrong with you?" the man shouted at Duo as he climbed back to his feet, brushing litter from his clothes.

"I said I was sorry," Duo said, still pretending to be drunk. Quatre stepped up from the line and helped Duo to his feet.

"Are you okay, sir?" Quatre asked Duo.

"Why are you asking him? He knocked me over!" the man shouted at Quatre, who responded by putting his hands up in front of him.

"Woah sir, calm down," Quatre said. Duo fumbled and fell towards the man again.

"Yeah man, calm down," he said. The guy pushed Duo again, and he lost his footing for real and crashed into another guy waiting in line with his daughter. Heero saw this and stepped up to the situation to haul Duo up off the man.

"You're fucking drunk," Heero said to Duo, pushing him away from the line. Heero helped up the innocent bystander and carefully slipped him a wad of cash. He leaned close and whispered, "Here. Don't say anything." The man looked strangely at Heero, but pocketed the money and pulled his daughter out of the line.

The stalker was red in the face now. He stormed up to Duo and shoved him back to the ground. Heero and Quatre went to the stalker and pulled him away from Duo, who was rubbing his tailbone and wincing. The stalker struggled against them, trying to throw punches in any direction he could. Heero and Quatre had to actually struggle to keep him from attacking the three of them.

By this time, Relena and Hilde had exited the ride with the two kids in tow. Relena and Hilde gasped and ran to the fight that was going on. The stalker looked up and spotted Relena so close, and that she seemed to recognize these people who were holding him back from punching the shit out of the drunken idiot.

"You bitch!" he shouted, and with a great force, launched himself off the ground, away from Heero and Duo and towards Relena. She screamed, but he crashed into her, bringing her to the ground with him. Hilde gasped, but pulled Milly's kids away while Duo, Heero and Quatre went for the man. Riley and Maria screamed and began to cry. Hilde wrapped her arms protectively around them and tried to assume them it would be alright. He had managed to land one solid punch at Relena, which glanced off her nose and into her eye. She shrieked and covered her face with her hand, which came away bloody.

Heero went nearly blind with rage when he saw the punch land on her face, and he thought the moment had arrived when he was going to kill the man, but at that moment, the guy with the daughter came through the crowd again with a police officer is tow.

"That man there! He started the fight!" the large man said, pointing to the man still pinning Relena to the ground. The office pulled his gun from the holster on his hip and aimed it at the stalker.

"Get up with your hands in the air!" the officer shouted at him. The stalker slowly rose to his feet, his hands out in front of him, palms flat. Heero quickly picked up Relena in his arms and backed away a few steps. Relena was still holding her hands to her nose to try and staunch the bleeding. The officer pulled the stalker's hands behind his back and whipped the handcuffs onto his wrists. The stalker was growling and snarling at Relena like a wild animal.

"I'll get you Relena Darlian! This isn't over!" he shouted at her as the office dragged him away. Relena flinched in Heero's arms, but he pulled her closer into the protectiveness of his arms. Quatre was already on the phone with Lady Une, following behind the officer as he dragged the stalker away. The man with the daughter walked up to Heero.

"I don't know what that was all about, but it looked like you needed some help," he said. He held his hand out to Heero to shake. Heero let go of Relena with one hand and shook the other man's hand.

"Thank you," Heero said, his eyes open and honest. The man smiled, then walked away with his daughter. The cash Heero tried to pay off the man with was back in Heero's hand. He stared after him for a moment before shoving the money back in his pocket. Hilde led the rest of her group away towards the first aid station to get Relena cleaned up. Hilde held the hands of the two children, who were still sniffling and frightened from the entire ordeal.

At the first aid center, Relena was helped by a young woman, who donned a pair of gloves and helped to clean up the blood on Relena's face and hands. Hilde helped by holding an ice pack over Relena's already swelling eye. Heero and Duo, reluctantly, waited outside in the crowd, waiting for Quatre to get in touch. By the time Relena was cleaned up and no longer bleeding, though her eye was nearly swollen shut, Quatre still had not called. Relena declared that she wanted to go home, so they trooped back to the cars. Duo texted Quatre to call them when he was ready to be picked up from wherever he'd gone off to. Hilde had to drive Relena's car back since her eye was swollen. When they arrived at Relena's house, the kids ran to their own home and excitedly told their parents what happened. Milly and Paul were there in an instant, making sure that Relena was okay. She persisted that she was fine and just needed some rest.

It took a while, but Relena finally got everyone to leave her house. Heero wanted to fight Relena to let him stay there, but he was afraid of making her too angry. His emotions were running high as well, and Duo suggested that Heero cool off before doing anything else. Heero reluctantly agreed and left with Duo.

Relena's habit of staring at her face in the mirror resurfaced, and she stood in front of the reflective surface, looking at herself through her one non-swollen eye. When the man jumped at her, instantly recognizing her face, Relena had flashbacks. Her mind went back to that day, in full detail, clearer than any other time she brought the memory up from the locked depths where she stored it. Though she did not see his face the first time, the way his hands touched her and the sound of his voice were as clear as if it had happened the day before. Relena, lying on the ground with him landing that punch on her face, believed she was going to die. For that moment, she truly felt that she was not long for the world. The look in his eyes when he stared at her, full of hate and malice, and a disgusting lust for her, terrified her into thinking she would die. Only when he was pulled off of her, and Heero claimed her once again in the safety of his arms, did she let go of that notion. It took several minutes for her to even process what she was seeing in front of her. Then the strange man shook Heero's hand, and she was all the more confused.

Relena turned away from the mirror and sprawled out on her bed. Her face was still in pain, but she ignored it. Absently, she crossed her arm over her chest and allowed her fingers to run over the words etched in her shoulder, now covered by ink. Relena wished she could cry, to release the pent up emotions inside of her, but she would not cry. Instead, she called Cherry to her, and the two of them passed out on her bed.


	16. Chapter 16

Hiding Scars

Chapter 16

When Relena woke up to the sound of the doorbell, it was already nearly dark outside. Groggily, she wandered down the steps to the front door and peeked outside. It was Milly. Relena opened the door to let her in.

"Oh Cass," she said, still using the name she'd known her by for four years. "Are you doing alright?"

"I'm fine," Relena replied. Milly studied Relena's face, with the swollen eye and the swollen nose and sighed.

"I'm glad you are okay, but there's something you should see," she said. Milly led Relena to the television and flipped on the evening news. "They've been playing this segment over and over."

On screen was a low resolution video and Relena being attacked by the man, him screaming out her real name. The camera caught the image of him punching her, then of Heero and Duo nearly pouncing on him to pull him off of her. Over and over. The news woman's face appeared.

"The man called out the name "Relena Darlian," who of course is the former Vice Foreign Minister, who disappeared over four years ago after her eighteenth birthday. If this man's assertion is correct, then the city of Virginia Beach is housing a runaway politician," she said. The image cut back to the low resolution video again. Relena groaned and put her head in her hands.

"I guess my anonymity is over," she said with a moan. Milly rubbed Relena's back with her hand, trying to comfort the young woman.

"And the worst is that anyone who latches onto this news story isn't going to know the real story," Milly said. "They're going to make up all kinds of things."

"I know," Relena said. An idea nagged at her. Perhaps she would have to announce herself sooner than she had planned. "I'll have to come clean," she said. Milly leaned over and pulled Relena's hands away from her face.

"Are you sure, honey?" she asked. Relena nodded, her eyes shifting back to the images on the television.

"It's the only way I can put my story out there before rumors begin," she said. "I'll have to go back. I was planning on waiting until my friends' vacation was over, and I would just go with them, but that's not gonna happen."

"If you need anything, you know we'll help you," Milly said. Relena smiled at her and hugged her friend.

"You and Paul are the best. I'm so glad I met you," she said. Milly returned the hug, unable to hold in a few tears.

-

Sally Po and Wufei Chang were immediately put in charge of the investigation of a man they now knew to be called Howard Munns. When Lady Une got the call from Quatre, the process began quickly. She called the duo into her office, and showed them the same stuff she'd sent to Heero. Naturally, they were shocked by the entire thing, including that Relena was alive and well in the Americas. Lady Une explained that the police in America would be willing to work with the Preventers. Less than twenty-four hours after Quatre called Lady Une, Wufei and Sally were en route to Virginia Beach.

After Howard Munn was arrested for assault, an investigation commenced on the urging of Quatre. An investigator was appointed to the case, and it was found that Munn had been living in a nearby motel room for a long time. Inside the room were pictures taken of Relena Darlian/Cassandra Cooper at various events. Some were obviously taken from the outside of her home, looking in through the window. There was a stack of books on the end table, all the same book, _The Invitation_ by Cassandra Cooper. There were maps on the walls, the location of her home circled in red. There were news articles about Cassandra Cooper taped to the walls. In the drawers of the dresser were stacks of letters he'd written to her but never sent. These were all collected into evidence. The investigator lost his lunch when he read through a letter at random.

"This guy is a maniac," it was declared.

-

Relena Darlian, aka Cassandra Cooper, barricaded herself in her home. The news story about the fight at the fair was picked up, and soon reporters and news vans were running all over her street, sitting in front of her house and knocking on her front door. She couldn't even take Cherry out for a walk because if she showed her face, she was hounded. Not even Cherry's ferocious bark could scare away the people all over her yard. Relief came in the afternoon the next day when several police vehicles arrived. Relena watched from her window as several officers got out of their cars and forced all the reporters and news vehicles off the street, citing them for loitering. Two other people climbed out of the police cruisers, but they weren't dressed like police officers. Relena turned away from the window and rushed down the steps. She reached the front door just as the doorbell rang.

Relena threw open the door and jumped at Sally, hugging her around the neck.

"I'm so happy to see you!" she cried. Sally laughed and returned the hug. Relena even hugged Wufei, who looked less than pleased about it. Once Relena pulled away, she let them into her home.

"Since you gave us such a warm welcome, I assume you know why we're here," Wufei said as he settled himself in a chair at Relena's dining room table.

"The man at the fair, and the news report," Relena said. The two Preventers nodded.

"Since you were in the capacity of VFM when you disappeared, your person is still under the protection of the Preventers, and the case still belongs to us," Wufei informed her. Relena nodded, understanding. "So far, a preliminary investigation has happened regarding this guy, Howard Munn. He is the one who attacked you at the fair. We have not yet linked him to the events of four years ago, but that is our next stop."

Relena sighed in relief. "I'm going to tell my story to the world," she said. The two looked at her, surprised. "I have to. I can't stay hidden any longer, and I don't want people making stuff up."

"Makes sense," Wufei said, with a flash of what might have been admiration in his dark eyes.

"When?" Sally asked.

"After you prove it was him from four years ago," Relena said. "Then I will go back home. I have a plan."

"Plan for what?"

"I want to help women. I want to help them when it comes to self defense and protecting themselves from men who would hurt them," Relena explained.

"Will you go back to your old job?" Sally asked. Relena shrugged.

"It depends on what the president wants, I suppose," she said. The two nodded. Wufei stood up.

"A police vehicle will remain here at all times to keep the media away. We have given them pictures of Duo, Heero, Hilde and Quatre, to allow them on the property. We will keep you informed on how the investigation is going," he said. Relena thanked them and walked them to the door. Sally hugged Relena once again.

"I'm happy to see you again, and happy to know that you are alive." Relena hugged her back, then let the two Preventers leave her house.

On the way back to the borrowed car, Wufei leaned over to Sally and said, "Did you see that tattoo on her back?"

-

That evening, Heero, Duo, Quatre and Hilde showed up at Relena's house. The officers checked their faces against the pictures given to them by the Preventers, then allowed them to her house. Relena welcomed them inside.

"Your eye is still swollen," Duo commented, looking her over. Relena stuck her tongue out at him.

"Maybe I should punch you so that we match," she commented. Duo laughed and hugged her. "Thank you all for what you did yesterday, though," she said. "I had no idea that anyone was following us." Hilde had told Relena about her noticing that someone had been following them all through the fair. "Who knows what could have happened."

"We don't need to think about what could have been, Relena," Quatre said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "All that matters is that you are safe again, and the Preventers are going to get that guy sent away for a long time." Relena nodded and hugged her friend. As they settled into her house, Duo and Hilde offered to cook dinner for everyone. Relena gratefully accepted and settled in to relax with Heero and Quatre. They turned the television on and watched the news. They were still playing the same low resolution film over and over again. Since Relena never left her house afterwards, and the police kicked them off her street, they didn't have much by way of new material. However, they seemed to be doing a lot of digging around, and reported some old news about her. They also gave her some advertising for her book by announcing that, "it is probable that Relena Darlian and Cassandra Cooper are in fact the same person."

Just before they sat down to eat, Relena's phone rang, the caller ID showing her editor. She quickly answered. His worried voice came over the line.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sounding frantic.

"I'm fine," she replied. "Did the story already make it up to New York?"

"Of you getting punched by some crazy guy calling you Relena Darlian, yes it made it here," he said. "What was up with that?'

"Well..."

"Wait a minute... are you?"

"Surprise," Relena said with only partial enthusiasm. Her editor seemed to explode with questions, statements and general ramblings about working with a missing Vice Foreign Minister, but never really giving Relena a chance to explain herself or answer his questions.

"Should we rerelease your novel with your real name?" he asked, when paused to allow her to answer.

"No, I like it better this way," she said. "Though my next book will be released under my real name."

"Which one?"

"The autobiography."

"Ah, makes sense now, knowing who you actually are. I did think that your knowledge of certain things during the wars was a little too specific and informed." Relena laughed.

"Because I was actually there," she said. Her editor 'ah hah-ed' on the other line.

"Well Miss Darlian or Miss Cooper, I have a PR statement to put together, since it is spreading like wildfire that the recent debut novelist Cassandra Cooper is actually a missing political figure. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Ok, thank you," Relena said. They said good bye and Relena put her phone down. "I didn't think about the fact that this situation would cause problems for my editor at the publishing company," she said to her friends. They sat down at dinner and discussed the events of the last day, and speculated about what Wufei and Sally would be able to put together about Howard Munn.

Through dinner, Relena noticed that Heero was rather subdued, and she wondered what was going on in his mind. She had a couple of guesses, but she knew she'd have trouble getting the truth out of him. She assumed it had something to do with the recent events of the last day. At the moment, however, she didn't want to worry about his sense of priority or his ideas of protecting her. She was just happy, feeling weights lifting off her shoulders, slowly but surely. Relena looked around the table at her mostly smiling friends, sighed in contentment and leaned back in her chair.

Plates soon emptied and glasses were drained. Duo leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. "Hilde makes the best chicken," he declared. Hilde smiled at him. Relena rose and began to gather up the dirty plates. Quatre stood up and helped her as well. Relena couldn't help but notice that Heero still looked rather sullen.

As the group cleaned up the dinner dishes, there was a knock at the door. Relena excused herself and went to the door, checking out the window before opening it. Wufei and Sally were standing outside, waiting. Relena pulled the door open and greeted them with a smile.

"Hello again!" she said happily. They said hello and Relena stepped back to allow them into the house.

"We just wanted to give you an update about what is going on," Sally said, taking a seat on the couch. Wufei sat down beside her and spread a few folders out on the coffee table. The others trickled into the livingroom as Relena sat down on the carpet beside the coffee table. She pulled a folder to her and flipped it open to sift through the contents.

"Howard Munn, thirty-four, was born in northern Europe. He was a bad student in school and eventually dropped out of high school. After dropping out, he joined up as a soldier for the Alliance. He piloted a mobile suit a few times but never excelled on the battlefield. From what we can determine, he became aware of your existence during your reign as Queen. The Preventer agents who found his hideaway found ramblings in journals from around that time in A.C. 195, mostly about you. He left the Alliance when OZ gained control and seems to have spent the remainder of the years stalking you, unfortunately," Wufei recited. Relena had been looking through the folders, listening to Wufei and nodding. Her face betrayed no emotion as she saw pictures of letters, pictures of herself that he'd taken, and pictures from his various hideaways. She slowed slightly when she uncovered a series of pictures that were taken post-rape, where she was still lying prone on her bed. In one picture, she could clearly see the words etched into her back, still raw and fresh. She reached up and rubbed her scars absently on her shoulder.

"We have an interrogation scheduled for tomorrow with him, and from there, the Preventer attorney will begin to put together a case," Sally added. Relena nodded in understanding. "You should also know that the media may become more aggressive. They've latched onto this story and it's spreading quickly. Une is monitoring the situation overseas and trying to keep the situation under control."

"I see," Relena acknowledged.

Heero had been sitting in a chair nearby. When Wufei spread the folders out on the table, he itched to snatch them up and spare Relena the horror of having to look at them. However, he watched her face as she read the papers and looked at the pictures, and she showed no emotion. He wondered mildly where she'd learned that from. He saw her reach up with one hand and rub against the spot on her back where he knew the scars to be. He leaned forward and saw that she was looking at a picture of herself on her bed. Heero grimaced and leaned back, hoping Relena was alright.

His ears perked up when he heard the word "interrogation." He looked hard at Wufei, willing him to catch his eye, but Wufei remained concentrated on Relena and the folders on the table.

"Do you have any other questions, Relena?" Sally asked, looking at her with a sad expression. Relena met Sally's eyes with a smile.

"I should be alright, thank you," Relena said. Sally nodded and the pair rose from her couch.

"We're exhausted, so we're going to head back to our hotel. We'll get in touch with you tomorrow," Sally said. Relena nodded and walked them to the door. She hugged them gratefully and they walked outside. Heero jumped up from his chair and chased after them. Relena stepped back, startled.

"What's wrong Heero?" Relena asked. Heero stepped outside with Wufei and Sally.

"Yuy?" Wufei asked.

"Let me sit in on the interrogation tomorrow," Heero said. Sally and Wufei glanced at each other, uneasy.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Heero," Sally said, the expression on her face apologetic. Heero arched an eyebrow. "I understand your feelings about this situation, but you are too close to the victim in this case. It wouldn't be a good idea."

"She's right," Wufei said. Heero stared at them, but they did not relent.

"Alright," he mumbled, and they turned away towards their car. Heero, his shoulders slumped slightly, walked back into the house. Relena had returned to the couch with her friends and they were chatting easily about nothing in particular.

It wasn't long before Quatre and Hilde began to feel tired as well, so they decided to head back to the vacation home. Quatre, Duo, and Hilde gathered their things and began to make their way to the door. Heero followed. Relena stepped up to him and rested her hand lightly on his shoulder.

"Heero?" she said quietly. He looked at her over her shoulder. "Are you going to stay with me tonight?" He turned to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I can't," he said. Relena looked up into his eyes and saw a glimmer there that she hadn't seen in a long time. The intensity of his soldier's upbringing shone out, and behind those blue irises, she knew his mind was turning cold and calculating. It frightened her a little. But she understood, at least as much as she was able.

"I understand," she said. Heero pecked a quick kiss on her forehead, then turned and left with the others. Relena watched them go, and saw the police wave them away. Relena turned away from the door, closed it and made sure it was locked. She looked at her empty living room, empty except for Cherry, and sighed. She always hated that empty feeling she felt whenever people would all leave at once.

She didn't want to let that bring her down, however, so she climbed the steps to her room, picked up the novel she was reading, and read until she fell asleep, the book slipping from her fingers.


	17. Chapter 17

Hiding Scars

Chapter 17

Quatre rolled the SUV up into the driveway of the vacation house. The short ride back had been quiet, everyone feeling the tension radiating from Heero. They'd all noticed how he'd been quiet and moody during dinner, and had overheard the odd conversation between Relena and Heero.

Each person climbed out of the SUV and walked up to the house. Heero went straight to his room without speaking to the others and closed the door. Finally alone with his thoughts, Heero brooded about the day, and all the information that Wufei and Sally brought.

Heero changed out of his clothes and pulled on a clean pair of shorts, then picked up his laptop and sat down on the bed. He wanted more information, and he knew that Wufei, Sally and Une wouldn't give him any, since he was not officially on the case. But there were ways around it. Une trusted Heero to help build the security systems on the Preventer databases, so naturally, he knew the ins and outs of the entire system. He used his laptop to log onto the work computer he kept at the Preventer HQs. Luckily, the computer was on; Someone must have been using it. From there, he was able to begin accessing all the information from the case of Relena Peacecraft-Darlian and Howard Munn. From that database, he found links to the Virginia State Police databases. He easily hacked into that, which Heero found greatly unfortunate, and began to search through whatever information they had collected. Most of it was the bare bones of the investigation. Preventers had all the details. However, Heero did find one bit that was interesting. It was a list of those cleared to be present at the interrogation of Howard Munn the following day at 11 am. Heero grinned, and quickly added his own name to the list.

Heero glanced at the small alarm clock on the side table. It was already five in the morning. _Time flies when you're on the hunt,_ Heero mused to himself.

Relena woke up suddenly to barking. She lifted herself up from her bed to see Cherry looking out the window in her bedroom, barking at something outside. Relena wrapped a thin blanket around herself and stepped up to the window.

"Oh no..."

Outside her home, the Police had completely lost control of the situation. There were media vans everywhere, people everywhere, cameras, both video and still, notepads and voice recorders. Some of the people from opposing media outlets seemed to be conversing, sharing their information with others. Relena swung her gaze across her occupied lawn, noticing that some of her neighbors were staring from windows and doors. As she watched the activity down below, something else caught her eye. Down at the end of the street, a long, black limousine turned onto the street, flanked by several black cars. There were flags on the limo, indicating who was inside. And Relena knew those flags well.

It was the President of the E.S.U.N. Relena spun away from the window and dashed into her closet. She pulled the first outfit she came to from the hangers and quickly dressed. She stopped in the bathroom. There was nothing much to be done about her hair, so she smoothed it down the best she could. She put on a touch of make up before jogging back to the window. From elsewhere in the house, she could hear her vid phone ringing over and over again. She ignored it. The President's car had pulled up to the curb, and there were several dark clothed Preventers standing around, waiting for him to climb out. Naturally, the media was being pushed away from her lawn, but they were still shouting at him and trying to take pictures and get a video feed. Relena watched as the President climbed out of the car and walked across her lawn and up to the door. She turned away and ran down the steps to her front door.

When she pulled it open, the President was just climbing up the steps of her porch. When he saw Relena standing there in the doorway, he broke out into a large grin, his eyes sparkling.

"Miss Darlian," he said, extending his hands out to her. She smiled back and took his hands. He planted a kiss on each of her cheeks.

"Hello President Travis," Relena said, stepping aside to allow the man into her home. One guard stepped in behind him while the others guarded the door and flanked the house to make sure no one tried to get too close.

"I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to know you are alive," the President said, once the two of them had sat down on her couch.

"Thank you," Relena said, bowing her head slightly.

"We were so afraid for you when we found out that you disappeared. I was scared that you'd been killed," the President continued. "But when the news began talking about your sudden reappearance in the Americas, I began to have hope again. Lady Une was kind enough to confirm your whereabouts, along with the sordid details about why you disappeared. I am truly sorry, and know that if I had know, I would have done everything in my power to make sure that you would be safe," he said.

"I know that, and I appreciate it. What I decided to do was really for the best," Relena said. The President nodded his head.

"I understand," he said. "But I can't let this visit pass without me asking about what your intentions are. I've never found someone more worthy of your position than yourself, and I would be overjoyed if you returned to us, as Foreign Minister of the E.S.U.N." He sighed and pressed his fingers together. "But of course, I would understand if you do not feel you can return. It wasn't your choice to suddenly become known again to the entire world. I don't expect you to give me an answer yet, either. I just hope that you will decide, and we will either welcome you back to us, or we will leave you alone."

Relena had been staring into his eyes as he spoke, seeing the honesty there. It was one of the reasons his campaign to become President went so well. He was honest and open. Even now, Relena knew that no matter what her decision, he would accept it.

She remains silent for a few minutes, while the President politely waits. Finally, she decides to tell him her thoughts.

"I want to return to New Port City. I have already been making plans to return there. I wasn't sure if I would be taking up my position again; it all would have depended on what you wanted me to do. What I do know is that I want to help women, and spread awareness about... about rape. I want women to be able to defend themselves in case they are ever attacked," she explains to him. The happiness in his face is obvious.

"Yes, Miss Relena. That suits you perfectly. And I lend you my support. If you want to return to us, you can have all my support for your campaign for safety of women. And naturally, I believe you have some friends up in space who are struggling with your Mars project," he added with a wink. "Take your time to decide. I will be here for a few days. Here is where you can reach me," he said, handing her a small white card with his contact information for Virginia in blue pen.

"Of course, sir," Relena said, smiling brightly. The President rose and nodded to his Preventer guard.

"I will get out of your hair now, and I'll see what I can do about getting those vultures off your lawn," he said. Relena bowed her head again.

"It would be appreciated."

The President smiled at her and took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze, then followed the Preventer out of her home and back towards his car. Relena saw through the open door that there were already several Preventers around, setting up barricades to keep the media away from her house. The media people backed away, but it seems they would be be deterred from trying to get a good shot. Relena closed the door and leaned against it, sighing. So much had happened to her in the last week, and her mind was full to bursting, thinking about what happened and what she was making plans for. Relena walked away from the door, petting Cherry as she walked by the dog. Relena disappeared into her office, ignoring the blinking lights on her vid phone and sitting down at her desk. She turned on her computer and began to write.

Heero woke up to the sounds of his friends moving around the house. It was already ten in the morning. He dressed quickly in jeans and a button up shirt, then dug out his Preventers badge out of his bag and looped it around his neck. He dug out his gun as well and tucked it against his lower back in the waistband of his jeans. As he walked down the steps, Quatre looked up at him from the couch.

"What are you doing?" he asked. Heero didn't want to answer, but Duo and Hilde were staring at him as well.

"I'm going to the police station to watch that interrogation," Heero confessed.

"Wufei said it wouldn't be a good idea if you went," Quatre replied. Heero shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"What did you do?" Duo asked, eyeing Heero suspiciously. Heero grinned slightly. Quatre sighed.

"I'll drive you," Quatre said. Heero nodded once, and Quatre rose from the couch and grabbed the keys to the car. Heero waited while Quatre put on his shoes, and he glanced over and saw Duo and Hilde eyeing each other lecherously. Heero shook his head.

"Keep it to your own room," Heero said gruffly. Duo snapped his head over to Heero, but he let out a loud laugh.

"Sure thing, buddy."

When Quatre and Heero pulled up to the police station, there were several officers in uniform milling around outside. Most were smoking and drinking coffee from small styrofoam cups. Heero thanked Quatre and climbed out of the SUV. He shut the door and the car rolled away from the curb. Heero strode up to the doors of the station. He could feel the eyes of the officers on him, but he ignored them. He grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it open. Wufei and Sally were standing nearby, checking through a folder that Wufei held in his hands. They looked up at the same time when Heero walked in.

"What are you doing here?" Wufei asked, his eyes narrowing. Heero grinned at his coworkers.

"Heero..." Sally mumbled. Heero stepped up to the counter and checked in with the administrator.

"I'm here for the interrogation of Howard Munn," Heero said, handing over his Preventer badge and his other form of identification. The woman clicked away on her computer, checking over his ID. She handed them back to him, then added a guest badge to him.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Yuy," she said. Heero looked back to Wufei and Sally. Both of them had their lips pressed into a thin line.

"Yes?" Heero asked, looping his badge back around his neck.

"You won't be in the room with him," Wufei said, leveling his gaze at Heero.

"Understood." Sally looked down at the watch around her wrist.

"It's time. Come on," she said, and the two men followed her.

They went down a low lit hallway and Sally stopped at a door. She pushed it open, and nodded to Heero.

"You can watch from in here," she said. Heero nodded and stepped inside. There were a few other people in the room. A camera was set up facing through the one way mirror. Heero moved to a corner and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. The other officers looked at Heero, but he did not acknowledge them.

Heero looked through the one way mirror at Howard Munn. He was sitting at the table, his hands in cuffs. He wore the plain blue clothing of a prisoner. He had several days of growth on his face, and his eyes were lidded and ringed in blue. Heero watched as Munn clenched and unclenched his hands over and over again. Finally, Wufei and Sally walked into the room, closed the door and stood in spots that would still allow the camera to see Munn. Heero took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to reign in his emotions and calm himself down.

"State your name," Sally said.

"Howard Munn."

"And are you aware of what you are accused of?" Sally asked. Howard Munn grinned.

"Oh yes I do," he said, and a laugh escaped from his throat, rattling through the small brick room. Heero felt his hairs on his arm pickle. "You threw me in that cell because of that bitch Relena Darlian. I warned her not to run from me. But she did, so I had to chase her down to make sure she wasn't breaking my rules," he said. Heero's eyes narrowed. "But she did. She ran. And I had to chase her down. Oh it took a while, sure, but I found her. Disgusting women like that cannot hide from me forever," he said.

"Have there been other women?" Sally asked. Munn began to giggle again.

"I'm sure you'd love to know that," he said through his insane giggles. Sally and Wufei's eyes narrowed at the same time.

"We have located several of your little hide outs," Wufei said. "We have found your journals and notes and pictures."

"Ah, so you have gotten a glimpse of my genius already! Good, I'm glad I won't have to try and explain that to you," Munn said, leaning back in his chair. Sally's face paled, and Heero's body tightened. The urge to beat the living shit out of this guy was powerful.

"Why did you go after Relena Darlian?" Wufei asked. Munn closed his eyes and smiled wistfully.

"She was an interesting candidate. When I became aware of her existence, I knew she was something special. And I deserved something special," he said. "Of course, the girl was never alone, and it took me a long time to make the plans to finally meet her face to face. It really was one of my more genius ideas. I knew that loser wouldn't actually kill her. His aim was terrible. But I knew all those Preventer idiots would be busy cleaning up the mess, leaving Relena to me." Munn opened his eyes and looked at Sally and Wufei. "I should be thanking you for helping me get to her."

Wufei flinched in a forward movement, but Sally grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Heero, in the observation room, began to pace, his breath heaving through his chest as he fought to remain calm.

"But," Munn began to speak again, his eyes closed. "Relena broke my rules, and I am not a very forgiving man. I've been bitten too many times by being too forgiving. So she will have to die."

"Your plans will never be carried out," Sally said, losing control of herself for a moment, as she glared at him, her hands trembling.

"I'm sure you would love to believe that," Munn said, opening his eyes once again. He turned and stared straight at the one way mirror. "Perhaps I'll record it, like you are recording me right now, and broadcast it to the world. I can just see the headlines now- 'Queen of the World Brutally Murdered in Home.' Perhaps," he giggled once more. "Perhaps I'll adorn her lifeless body in a crown for the pictures."

Veins began to stand out in Wufei's neck. Sally nodded to Wufei, and the two of them left the room.

"Are we done talking and making plans for the future?" Munn called after them. A burly man in uniform stepped into the room and yanked up Munn from the chair he sat on and guided him out of the room. "Ah, did I piss everyone off? Make you uncomfortable? That's too bad!" he shouted as he was pushed along the hallway. Heero could hear him yelling outside the observation room door. Soon, Munn's cries and laughter faded away as he was taken back to his cell.


	18. Chapter 18

Hiding Scars

Chapter 18

A/n: Not much left of this story- and we're coming up fast on the climax. I hope everyone has enjoyed this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I have so many more stories to bring you, and I'm super excited about them!

Also, thank you to all the reviewers and everyone who has stuck by through the whole story. I appreciate your feedback! Makes me happy to be back in this community again!

****Relena leaned back in her computer chair and stretched her arms above her head. Cherry sat beside her whining.

"What's the matter, Cherry?" Relena asked, looking down at the dog. The dog continued to stare up at her, a whine deep in her throat. Relena looked at the clock. "Oh, you haven't been outside in a while, have you?" Relena asked. Cherry's tail whipped back and forth. Relena rose from her chair and stretched some more, causing her back to pop loudly. Cherry jumped to her feet and followed Relena from the room. Relena checked out the window off the back door. She could see several officers patrolling her property, so Relena felt safe enough to allow Cherry out the door. She pulled the sliding door open, and Cherry bounded outside, barking and leaping around in the fresh air. Relena watched her for a moment, then turned away.

She began to pace. She'd just spent most of the day writing in her autobiography, adding details and descriptions that she'd never wanted to write before, because then, she was supposed to be writing as Cassandra Cooper, not Relena Darlian. She'd written about many details about the Gundams and other people from the war, in order to hide her identity. Now, it didn't matter. Her face was once again plastered all over the media, being talked about and speculated about.

Relena knew she'd have to make a statement sooner or later, a statement to the world, like she'd done so many times before. Only this time, she would be returning to her place in the political world. Relena sighed and sat down on her couch, pulled a pillow into her lap and hugged it to her chest. There was so much to think about and consider, and the more she thought, the more stressed out she felt.

"Milliardo," she mumbled. "Noine." Relena rose. After four years, she had completely forgotten the time difference from where Relena was in Europe to their location on Mars. Now she was in a different time zone. She supposed however, that if Heero had gotten a hold of Milliardo, then she could, too. She sat down at her vid phone and dialed up the connection that she had to unbury from deep within her memories. It took several minutes for the connection to make it through, but finally, a fuzzy image appeared on the other side. The person on the other end made some adjustments, and the image became clearer.

"Hello brother," Relena said. Milliardo stared at her through the screen.

"Oh baby sister," he said, reaching up, as if trying to touch her through the screens. "I can't tell you how happy we were to find out from Heero that they'd found you alive," he said. Relena smiled.

"I should have let you know," Relena said. Milliardo shrugged.

"I don't know what happened, but I'm sure you made the best decision for yourself as possible," he said. "I hope someday you'll be able to tell us what happened."

"That's sort of why I called," Relena replied. "I'm trying to still my mind, and this is something that I can do to help that."

"Let me get Noine," Milliardo said. Relena nodded, and his face disappeared from the screen. She waited, and soon, Noine's familiar face appeared on the screen.

"Relena!" she cried. "Oh darling, I'm so happy to see your face!"

"It's good to see you too, Noine," Relena said. Noine shifted and she could see both her brother and Noine's face on the screen. "I guess I'll start at the beginning..."

It took her thirty minutes to tell the story, editing out parts that she didn't want her brother and Noine to hear. In the end, they just started at her. Noine was crying, and Milliardo looked enraged.

"If I were on Earth..." Milliardo grumbled. Relena shook her head.

"Please don't think that way. Besides, they got him, and the Preventers are investigating the crime. They are doing what they can," Relena said. Milliardo and Noine didn't look too heartened.

"Maybe I should tell Yuy to just kill that man. I'm sure he'd agree," Milliardo said.

"No, brother. We ended that sort of thinking after the war. He will be tried and most likely sent to prison, as he should," Relena said.

"I suppose so," Milliardo said.

"You are so strong, Relena," Noine said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "If you survived this, you can survive anything else that comes your way."

"Thank you, Noine," Relena said. The connection grew fuzzy. "I think I'm losing you. I'll call you again soon!" Relena said. She could see them wave to her and call out good bye before the connection went to static. She turned off the vid phone. Her heart felt lighter and more at peace now. Her thoughts began to organize themselves.

Cherry was pawing at the back door now. Relena let her back inside. Cherry licked her hand and walked away to lie down on her dog bed. Relena wandered back into her office and picked up her cell phone. There was a missed call from Une's number. She listened to the brief voicemail. Une said in the message that she'd found someone for Relena, and to call her back. Relena quickly dialed Une's number.

"Hello Miss Relena," Une's voice said on the other side of the line.

"Une! I got your message," Relena said. "You found someone?"

"Yes, Miss Relena. A former student at St. Gabriel's institute. She remembers you from her time there. She is a little older than you, but sat in during many of your peace talks. Her background check was clear," Une explained. "Her name is Molly Shores. I will send you all her information for you to look over. She's ready to start on whatever projects you need done over here before you come back."

"Thank you so much," Relena said.

"Have you spoken with the President?"

"Yes, he came by this morning. I informed him of my intentions, but I have yet to confirm with him that- that I'll be coming back to the position of Foreign Minster."

"That's wonderful Miss Relena," Une said sincerely. I look forward to working with you again upon your return. Although this time, your security will not be lacking. I will personally make sure of that."

"Although I wish it weren't necessary, I will trust your judgement," Relena said.

"Plus I'm sure Heero Yuy will not let you out of his sight again," Une said, sounding amused. Relena laughed.

"He has barely let me out of his sight since they found me," Relena confirmed.

"Good. I wll let you go, Relena, but we will talk again soon."

"Good bye Une."

"Good bye."

Relena hung up her phone and hurried into her office. She had a speech to write.

-*-*-*

Wufei, Sally and Heero sat together at a table, drinking bad coffee heavily fortified with sugar and cream. They were silent, still reflecting on the disastrous interview with Howard Munn. The man was clearly insane, and they would probably not get much useful information out of him. The first interview had been bad, the next two were worse. Munn seemed to realize that he got enjoyment out of explaining the gross details about his exploits to the officers, and gave them more than they wanted to hear. Heero shook with rage at everything he said, because in his mind, he could see Munn doing those horrible acts to Relena, over and over again.

When Heero had walked towards the bathroom, he'd overheard some of the other officers wondering if they would use truth serum on him. Heero's anger fueled him to hope that they used the maximum dose on him to get all the information they could.

The police chief approached the table and set a folder down in front of Wufei. Standing behind him was a short man who looked to be of Asian decent. His dark hair was cropped close to his head and he wore a suit. There was a badge around his neck that indicated he worked for the American FBI.

"This is Dr. Young. He's a psychologist. We're going to send him in to have a talk with Munn to see if any diagnoses of a disturbed mental state can be made," the police chief informed them.

"Sir, that's not really the wording we like to use," Dr. Young said. The chief shrugged his shoulders.

"Around here, Doctor, anyone who laughs about attacking, stalking and raping women is subject to be labeled as having a disturbed mental state." The doctor pursed his lips together but said nothing. The chief turned his attention back to Wufei and Sally. "We'll let you know the results as soon as we have anything. Why don't the three of you get something to eat?"

"Sure thing," Wufei said, taking the folder and peeking inside. It was a recap of the interviews with Munn. He tucked it under his arm and nodded to Sally and Heero. "Let's go," he said. They gathered their things and headed out of the police station.

"Mind if I call the others?" Heero asked.

"Go ahead," Wufei said. Heero called Quatre and informed him that they were going to get something to eat at a nearby diner. Quatre said they'd meet them there. They piled into the Preventer vehicle and drove the short distance to the diner.

When they arrived, they sat down at a large table. It didn't take long for Quatre, Duo and Hilde to arrive.

"So what happened?" Duo asked once they'd ordered their food. Sally shook her head.

"It didn't go well, that's for sure. He's having a psychological eval done right now by some FBI agent. We're not sure if we are going to get anything out of him that can be used in a trial," Sally explained. The others looked grim.

"We've heard plenty about how much he likes raping women though," Wufei said, rather coarsely. His statement did little to make any of them feel better. They continued to sit in silence for several minutes.

"It's Relena Darlian!" someone shouted. The attention of the table was caught, and they looked around, thinking they'd seen Relena walking through the door of the diner. But no, everyone was looking at a television mounted on the wall. The waitress near the television turned up the volume.

"What's she doin'?" Duo asked.

-*-*-*

Relena stood on her lawn in front of her house. She'd showered and dressed in her more business like outfit, and pulled her long hair back into a braid. A few wisps of hair were fluttering in the light breeze outside. Standing at her left elbow was the President of the E.S.U.N. Relena took a deep breath and began to speak.

"People of the world and colonies, my name is Relena Darlian, former Vice Foreign Minister. Four years ago, I abandoned my position. I'm here to tell you why. I was the victim of a cruel sexual act which left me afraid for the life of my friends and family, and for my own life. So I went into hiding with the hopes that the people close to me would be spared the wrath of this deranged man. As many people know by now, I appeared in a brief video of a fight happening at the fair in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the United States. The man attacking me was the same man who attacked me four years ago. The man has been arrested and will be tried for his crimes. And because of that, I feel safe now to say that I will be returning to my former job, but as the Foreign Minister. I intend to use my power to add another item to my list of projects, which will be to help women learn to protect themselves from those who would wish them harm. Though the wars have ended, there is no way we can control the acts of all the people on Earth and in the colonies. But we can learn to protect ourselves and to make good choices to avoid getting ourselves into trouble. And that is what I wish to teach to anyone who would be willing to learn. Thank you, and I feel so lucky and happy to be back among the world that I love," Relena said.

The butterflies that plagued her prior to her speech dispelled almost as soon as she started speaking. She fell into her easy flow of speech, her passion pushing the words further into the hearts and minds of those who listened. Relena smiled into the cameras, feeling complete. At her side, the President stepped forward and the cameras turned their lenses to him.

"I, President Walden Mitchell, accept Relena Darlian's return to the position of Foreign Minister, and I wish her the best in all her endeavours," he said, then turned and rested a hand on Relena's shoulder. They both smiled and waved into the cameras. From beyond the cameras, applause and cheering could be heard from the media who were watching and recording the speech.

-*-*-*

Heero watched as Relena and the President disappeared from the screen and were replaced by a talking head anchor. Heero shifted his gaze back to his friends, feeling a little stunned. Everyone else was smiling and chattering about her return. All Heero could think about was the stress that would return to Relena's face once she took up her old duties, resurrected the Mars project and took on this new project she announced in her speech. As if she didn't have plenty to do before, now, she would be even busier.

And a bit selfishly, Heero wondered if this would cause him to have limited time to spend with her.

"Heero, what's wrong?" Quatre asked. Heero snapped his gaze up to his friend. They were all staring at him.

"Nothing," he stated. No one believed him. Instead of explaining himself, he looked back down at his plate and continued eating. He could tell they were all exchanging glances, but he did not feel like allowing them to know his thoughts. Eventually, they went on with their excited conversation and finished their meal.

-*-*-*

Once Relena had finished with her speech, most of the media vultures in front of her house packed up and began to leave. She assumed they must be satisfied with having gotten her on camera, along with the president. They would have plenty to talk about now for several days. Relena had retreated into her home after bidding farewell to the President, and was watching the dwindling activity from her upstairs window.

She turned away and looked around her room. Soon, she'd be leaving this beautiful home to take up residence somewhere in New Port City. When she thought about her changing future, she felt both nervous and giddy. She was getting excited about starting new projects and taking up old ones. It occurred to her that her abandoned plans never really left her mind. Sometimes she would think about them, then brush the thoughts away when they strayed too close to the painful memories of the past.

But this four year respite from it all rejuvenated her. She had tried to relax back in the beginning, but she grew restless quickly, which was why she took up writing and remodelling the vacation homes. It gave her something to do, something to occupy her mind. She liked to work.

Relena sat down on her bed, and Cherry jumped up next to her and rest her head on Relena's leg. Relena absently scratched at Cherry's ears. "I hope you will like your new home, Cherry," Relena said, looking down at her dog. Cherry looked at Relena with her big, brown eyes. "It will be an adjustment at first, but I know we'll get used to it quickly. There will be new friends for you to meet." Cherry yawned and stretched out fully across Relena's bed.

Relena reflected on her last four years of life. As she mentally prepared herself for returning to Europe and her old job, she began to feel like the last four years were more like a vacation. A relaxing vacation. "I will have to take more vacations," Relena said to herself. She tried to remember the last time, prior to A.C. 198, that she had actually taken a vacation. She didn't count trips into space with her father. She really couldn't remember. "That will have to change," she said to herself.

Cherry lifted her head when the doorbell rang. Relena climbed off the bed and walked down the steps with Cherry following behind. Through the window beside the door, Relena saw Milly. She threw the door opened and hugged her friend.

"Congratulations, Cass- er Relena," Milly said, hugging her tightly around the shoulders.

"You can call me whatever you want, Milly, just don't call me a bitch," Relena said. Milly snorted with laughter. Relena let Milly into the house and shut the door behind her. "I'm actually glad you came over. There's something I was hoping to ask you about."

"Anything," Milly said, throwing herself down onto Relena's couch.

"I was sort of hoping, if it wouldn't be too much for you, if I could hire you as my rental house manager," Relena said. Milly grinned.

"Sure! I don't do much else besides watch the kid and plan the summer bash, as you know," Milly said. "I'd be happy to do it! Plus, that way I'd still get to talk to you all the time." Relena laughed.

"I'd still talk to you either way," Relena said. "You've been important to my life."

"You're sweet," Milly said with a smile. She stood up from the couch and pulled Relena into another hug. "It makes me sad that you'll be leaving us, but I'm so happy for you. I really admired you when you were working so hard at such a young age before. I'm proud to call you my friend. Plus you were able to get back with that handsome Heero character," Milly said.

Relena's eyes lit up. "That reminds me!" she said. She grabbed Milly's arm and pulled her down onto the couch. "There's something I want to tell you about," her grin turning wicked and sly. Milly eyed her, then matched Relena's grin.

"I think I know where this is going," she said, and the girls settled in for an overdue girl talk.


	19. Chapter 19

Hiding Scars

Chapter 19

A/N: FYI- Slight gore in this chapter.

****Wufei, Sally and Heero return to the police station while Quatre, Duo and Hilde head off to the festival. When they arrived, the chief, looking even more tired and frazzled than when they left, had a report to give them.

"Dr. Young did the evaluation. It's so long that I couldn't even read the whole thing. I think the doctor diagnosed Munn with everything listed in the DSM," he said, handing over a thick folder. Wufei took it and flipped through.

"Sociopath, neurotic, obsessive compulsive, anxiety disorder... How can one person have this much going on at once?" Wufei asked skeptically. Sally took it and flipped through it herself. Heero was lost in the conversation already.

"Don't ask me. I avoided that career path for a reason. But I don't think this eval is going to help us much. It brings in too many extra variables, plus he could get off on reasons of insanity if any judge got a hold of this document," the chief said. "All in all a waste of an afternoon, I think."

"Let's hope not," Sally said, still immersed in the document. "If it's alright, I'd like to have a copy of this to read over tonight." The chief nodded, and pointed to the young receptionist. "She's cleared to do confidential document copies," he said. Sally thanked him and walked off towards the receptionist desk. The chief excused himself and went back to his office while Heero and Wufei sat down at empty table. They both sat in silence for a few minutes.

"This is complicated," Wufei said. Heero nodded. Sally returned a few minutes later with a fresh copy of the document and a red pen.

"I heard one of the officers say that Munn is being transferred to a different cell later tonight. I guess we'll have to go somewhere else to interrogate him tomorrow if we decide on attempting that again," Sally said after she sat down.

"I don't know if my errant imagination could handle that," Wufei said. Sally and Heero nodded together.

-

Relena was just returning to her home when her cell phone rang. Milly had invited her over for dinner with Paul and the kids, and Relena accepted. The Preventers watching her house escorted her over there and continued to watch both houses until her return. Relena dug her phone out of her purse and checked the caller ID. It was Heero.

"Hi there," she said, brightly. "How has it been going today?" she asked. Heero sighed.

"Not very well. It might not make sense, but we have both not enough information on Munn and too much information on Munn. It's hard to determine a direction to take in this investigation," Heero explained.

"I see," Relena said, feeling a little disheartened at the news. She'd hoped this process would be wrapped up quickly now that he was caught, but it looked like that would not be the case.

"What are you doing for dinner?" he asked.

"I just got home from eating with Milly and Paul, and I was going to start writing up some emails to my new assistant with instructions for my return to New Port City," Relena said.

"You have an assistant?" Heero asked.

"Oh yes. I called Lady Une about it a few days ago. She found someone we could trust to help me out while I'm still over here," Relena said. Heero was silent for a few moments.

"When do you plan on returning?" he asked.

"The same time the rest of you go back," Relena said.

"Hn."

"Are you alright, Heero?" Relena asked.

"I'm fine. I'll talk to you later," he said, and hung up the phone on her. Relena pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it, confused. Cherry was looking at her from the dog bed in the corner of the living room.

"What is wrong with men?" Relena asked her dog. Cherry barked and laid her head back down.

-

Heero felt like a complete idiot. He tossed his phone on the night stand in his room and began to pace. He completely lost control of his emotions while he was talking to Relena, and most likely pissed her off for hanging up on her. Heero's muscles tightened in response to his irritation. The investigation was not going well, Relena was returning to her former, dangerous life, and he didn't know how he felt about any of it. So many different thoughts were nagging at him. On top of that, he had a bad feeling deep in his gut. He mentally lashed out at Munn, blaming him for all these problems that had come up.

A knock at the door pulled him from his mental ass kicking. "Yeah?" The door opened and Duo poked his head in.

"Did you find out what Relena is doing?" Duo asked.

"She ate already," Heero said. Duo nodded.

"Let's go then."

"Where?"

"Back to the festival. We're all hungry. You can't just stay here and mope," Duo said before Heero could reject the idea.

"Fine," he said grumpily, grabbed his jacket off his bed and followed Duo down the steps.

-

Relena lost track of the time as she outlined her plans and ideas, sent email after email to Molly with instructions on what to do with her old house and all the items inside. Relena took only the things that were truly important to her from that home, and the rest of her sentimental family objects were in storage anyway. She also worked on her autobiography, continuing to add details that she'd intentionally left out before.

Cherry was lying on the floor, pouting that Relena was still up and working instead of lying in the comfortable bed upstairs. Occasionally, Relena would reach down and pet Cherry and apologize, but continued to work. She'd opened her window as the sun was setting to let in some of the fresh, night air. It was rejuvenating to her, and she loved that slightly wet smell of the dew settling over the grass and bushes. The cool summer breeze blew in behind her, rustling papers on her desk every once in awhile.

A small noise pulled Relena from her work. Cherry lifted her head as well, ears perked up and alert. Relena looked around, and shrugged, blaming it on the wind. Cherry wasn't so easily convinced, and she rose up and walked around the office, sniffing at the air. Relena returned to work.

A few minutes later, she heard the noise again, like twigs snapping and leaves being pushed around. She stopped working again and looked around. Cherry began to growl low in her throat. Relena rose from her desk chair and stepped up to the window to look outside. She couldn't see anything outside except for her bushes and plants, and her car in the driveway. She began to feel anxious, so she closed the window and locked it, then pulled the thick curtain closed. Relena left her office to wander around her house, checking the windows and doors, with Cherry close to her heels. Relena checks out the front window, and sees only one Preventer car parked in the street. Everything else was silent and still.

Against her better judgement, Relena opens her front door and steps onto the front porch.

-

Heero and the others had returned from their festival activities rather late, and Heero went straight to bed. It didn't take long for him to fall into a restless sleep, overcome with exhaustion from the day but restless thoughts keeping him from falling into a deep sleep. In a state of confused dreaming, Heero is woken up by the loud chirping of his cell phone. He dragged his eyes open and fumbled for the phone on the night stand. The caller ID indicated that Wufei was calling.

"Why so late, Chang?" Heero asked before answering the phone. He pressed the button to answer the call and held the phone to his ear.

"Do you know what time it is?" Heero asked as a greeting.

"Munn as escaped."

-

Relena felt her stomach drop. Cherry stood close to Relena, the hair on her back raised up and the growl growing louder in her throat. Through the lights on the outside of Relena's house, she could see Howard Munn standing in her driveway. She swallowed hard. He had a wicked looking grin on his face as she stared at her. Relena squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and stepped down off her porch and stood in the cool grass, facing Munn.

"You," she said. Munn stared at her, the grin on his face never wavering.

"Hello my pet," he said. "You have been very naughty, running off like that," he said. He took a step closer to her. Cherry barked loudly in response. Munn ignored the dog. "I made you mine for a reason, and you just thought you could leave." Impulsively, Relena reached up to the scar on her shoulder, as it began to itch slightly. Munn's grin widened. "Yes, Relena," he said, taking another step forward. Relena could now see that he held a large knife in his hand. Part of her scoffed at such a puny weapon.

"I am done running from you," Relena said. "I'm going to make sure you never hurt anyone ever again." Munn barked a laugh.

"That was quite funny. I didn't realize you were funny," he said. "But it doesn't matter, because you'll be dead." At that, he lunged forward, running across the dewy grass. Relena took a few steps back and shouted the only German phrase she taught to Cherry.

"Angriff!" Cherry lunged forward at Munn.

-

Heero threw on the first clothes he could put his hands on and sprinted out of the house and down the block towards Relena's house. He was panting slightly by the time he arrived, but when his eyes adjusted to the limited light, he stopped in his tracks.

Munn was indeed standing in Relena's front yard, but he appeared to be trying to fend off Cherry. The dog was barking and growling and snapping at him. Nearby, he could see Relena, standing still and speaking to someone on the phone. Heero took a few more steps forward and reached under his shirt for his gun. He pulled it out and took aim at Munn. It was hard to get a clean shot with him moving around, and with Cherry fighting back.

"I'm sorry Relena," Heero said, knowing he was about to break his promise to her from so many years ago. His finger began to close around the trigger when Munn threw Cherry off of him. Heero could see the glint of a knife in Munn's hand. Cherry bounded back to her feet and launched at him. Heero stopped what he was doing when he saw Cherry's jaw clamp down around Munn's throat. Heero's eyes widened and he lowered his gun. He glanced to Relena, who was watching the scene, her cell phone still in her hand, with an inscrutable expression on her face.

With a final, sickening noise, Cherry ripped away at Munn and dropped down the ground, crumpling under her own weight. Munn's blood exploded from his neck, or at least where it used to be, before he too crumpled to the ground. Heero jogged up the yard, just as Relena moved closer as well. The grass was covered in blood, and Cherry's fur was matted down in blood as well, most likely Munn's and her own. She'd let go of the piece of Munn she'd ripped apart and tried to rise up onto her feet. Relena dropped down to her knees and reached for the dog, who slowly crawled into Relena's lap and collapsed, panting hard, her sides heaving up and down with every labored breath.

Heero stepped up to Munn. He pressed two fingers to Munn's wrist. No pulse. He was dead.

"Cherry," Relena mumbled, pulling the dog to her. Already, Relena's clothes were covered in blood. As Heero watched her, he heard the loud screech of sirens out in the distance. They must have been moving fast, because the sound got louder and louder until the flashing lights appeared at the end of the street. It was a police cruiser. Two more whipped around the turn and sped down the street towards Relena's house. Two ambulances followed, then more police cruisers. Several unmarked black cars sped down as well; Preventers were arriving on the scene, too. One black Preventer car pulled up onto the curb and the doors flew open. Wufei and Sally jumped out of the car and sprinted across the lawn. Wufei went to Munn while Sally stopped beside Relena and knelt to the ground.

"Will she be alright?" Relena asked quietly, still smoothing down the fur on Cherry's neck.

"Let me take a look at her," Sally said, pulling the dog into her own lap. "I didn't study animals, but I will do my best." Relena nodded, her eyes still blank.

Heero watched this exchange, feelings of worry and relief colliding in his stomach. He wanted to go to Relena, but something was keeping him from moving forward. She simply sat on the ground, her hands in her lap, blood covering her clothes.

"Yuy," Wufei said, who'd appeared at Heero's side. Heero tore his gaze away from Relena. "What happened here?" Heero sighed and tucked his gun back into his waistband.

"Cherry killed him," Heero stated.

Sally moved her fingers slowly over Cherry's body, inspecting her for wounds. There were several cuts from Munn's knife, but the bleeding had stopped for most of them. "I think she'll be alright once she is treated properly," Sally concluded, shifting Cherry's weight back into Relena's lap. Sally rose, her Preventer uniform covered in blood as well. Relena saw two EMTs running up the lawn, small cases in their hands.

"Miss Darlian, are you alright?" they asked, skidding to a halt on the dewy grass and dropping to their knees.

"I'm fine. Please, save Cherry," Relena said. The shock of the situation was wearing away, and the full realization of what happened crashed down into her heart. She felt her chin begin to tremble, and tears threatened to spill over onto her cheeks. The EMTs saw this in her eyes. The male EMT carefully gathered Cherry up into his arms.

"I'll do what I can," he said. The woman took Relena's hand and helped her to her feet.

"Let me at least give you a once over," she said. Relena nodded complacently, and tried to wipe the tears from her cheeks, only managing to smear blood. The EMT smiled sadly, took a cloth from her pocket and wiped the blood and tears away. "Come on." Relena followed. Two more EMTs rushed past Relena and dropped to their knees beside Munn.

"He's dead," one of them mumbled to his partner.

-


	20. Chapter 20

Hiding Scars

Chapter 20

A/N: I've caught up with what I had written. Possibly one chapter + epilogue or just a long epilogue left to go! :-)

When Heero finished telling Wufei what he'd seen happen on Relena's lawn, he looked around at the area. The whole area was chaotic. There were media vans parked everywhere, several more police cruisers had arrived, along with another ambulance. Relena's neighbors were coming to their front doors and were watching the chaos. Heero looked around, but couldn't find Relena anywhere. Heero pulls his phone from his pocket and dials Duo's number.

"Heero, what the heck are you doing up so early?" Duo asked. "Why are you calling me?"

"Munn escaped and went to Relena's house. He's dead."

"Munn is dead? Who...?"

"The dog."

"What?" Duo paused, but Heero had nothing else to say. "I'll wake everyone and we'll be over in a few." Duo hung up the phone, and Heero replaced his own phone in his pocket. Wufei and Sally approached him. Sally looked as if she tried to clean up some of the blood from her clothes.

"We received a report from the police chief," Wufei said. "Munn escaped during his transfer. He killed the officers moving him and basically ran to Relena's on foot. The police station is going to be under heavy scrutiny after this. I'm just glad the Preventers weren't in charge of that movement. We'd be screwed," Wufei explained. Heero felt rage build in him, but ebbed just has fast. What happened, happened.

"This is a mess," Heero mumbled. His Preventer comrades nodded silently, watching the buzz of activity. The police had put up caution tape, but it didn't stop the media personnel from straining against it, trying to get a report of anything that had been happening. Heero finally spotted Relena near the ambulance. At the same time, Duo, Hilde and Quatre jumped out of the SUV, which was parked down the road and ran across the lawns. Sally spotted them, and walked off to meet them and allow them past the police barricade.

Heero finally spots Relena near one of the ambulances when the crowd shifted. She was sitting with Cherry, an EMT telling her something. Her face betrayed her emotions, showing Heero that Relena was upset, and he could see, on the verge of tears. He wanted to go to her, but his pride was holding him back. He hadn't been the one to save her. Was that a failure? He was confused. Heero watched as Quatre and Hilde ran to Relena. There was a brief conversation, after which Quatre gathered Cherry up in his arms, and left with Hilde.

Duo broke away from the others and walked to Heero and Wufei.

"I can't believe Relena trained her dog to attack someone," Duo said with a slight grin. "Tough girl." Heero stared at Duo, his words processing slowly in Heero's mind.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I heard Relena telling Quatre and Hilde that she told Cherry to attack Munn when he was on her lawn."

"She protected herself..." Heero mumbled. Duo eyed Heero strangely.

"What's going on in your head right now, man? You're acting weird... er than usual," he said, giving Heero a playful punch on the arm. Wufei let out a laugh beside them.

"Heero is struggling with his protector complex," he said, then walked away to talk with the police chief, who'd just arrived on scene. Heero glared at Wufei's retreating back.

"Go to Relena. She needs you," Duo said. Heero looked at Duo, then walked off without say anything.

Relena had moved from the ambulance when Quatre and Hilde took Cherry, offering to drive her to the nearest Veterinarian office. She'd found a clear spot on her lawn, away from the media and from the police and Preventers. She wrapped her arms around her legs and sat with her chin resting on her knees. As she sat, she saw someone approaching from the corner of her eye, then sit down beside her. Heero's scent washed over her. She turned to look at him.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Relena shrugged her shoulders. Heero reached his arm out and placed it around her shoulders, pulling her towards him slightly.

"I watched him die without doing anything," Relena said, staring off into space. Heero glanced down at her face, trying to read her thoughts.

"Yeah." He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"The worst part was that I was glad..." she added in a soft whisper. Heero tightened his grip on her. He could tell that this would be an internal battle for her. Relena's soul was too pure for something like that to have no effect on her conscious.

"He made your life hell. He deserved death," Heero said.

"But who am I to decide who should live and who should die?" Relena asked. Under his hand, he felt her skin go cold and clammy. He released his hold on her and shifted around to sit in front of her. He took her hands in his.

"Relena, if you start along this train of thought, you will never get out of it. It can ruin your life if you let it," he said, lifting her chin to look into her eyes. Relena stared back, biting her bottom lip. "Let it go. I know it's bad, but he will no longer be on the streets, and will never be able to hurt you or anyone else." Beneath his fingers, he could feel her pulse through her wrist, racing fast. He began to worry that she might go into a panic. Heero glanced around for an EMT. One ambulance had left, and the other was still parked, the EMTs lingering around talking with the police. "Do you want me to get one of the EMTs?" he asked her. She shook her head. Heero pursed his lips and looked into her face. Her pupils were expanding and contracting rapidly, and her body was shaking. "Relena," he said quietly, but she didn't seem to hear him. Tears were silently streaming down her cheeks, and her chest began to heave.

Relena clutched at her chest, feeling like her heart might burst from her chest. She couldn't slow her breath no matter how hard she tried. She knew she was crying, because she could feel the tears dripping down her cheeks and sliding along her jaw to her neck. She grabbed desperately at her clothes, trying to pull them away from her skin.

"Shit," Heero mumbled. He jumped to his feet and ran across the lawn, leaving Relena on the grass, having a full blown panic attack. He grabbed the arm of one of the EMTs and gave a tug.

"She's panicking," Heero said. The EMT nodded and followed him. The EMT knelt down in front of Relena and took her hands in his. He placed two fingers on her wrist and pushed up his sleeve to check her pulse.

"Miss Relena, my name is Kyle. I'm going to help you out, alright?" he said in a soothing voice. Heero watched, trying to remain calm for Relena's sake. Relena met the eyes of Kyle and nodded, showing she understood. Kyle helped her up to her feet, but she was shaky. Heero stepped to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her. "Can you slow your breathing?" Kyle asked her. Relena visibly tried to slow her breathing, but she ended up holding her breath. "Exhale, Relena. That's right," he said as she exhaled. She drew in a shaky breath. Kyle led the two of them towards the ambulance.

"No sleeping," Relena said, her voice cracking with her sobs and tears.

"Alright," Kyle said, still leading them. Finally, he had Relena lie down on the gurney in the ambulance. He shifted around the contents of one cupboard overhead and pulled down a bottle and a syringe that was packaged in plastic. He tore this open and filled it with a small amount of the bottle. "This will calm you down without putting you to sleep," he said. Heero held onto her hand as Kyle inserted the needle into her arm and pressed down, injecting the clear liquid into her arm. It took several moments, but Heero could see Relena begin to calm. Kyle smiled sadly down at her. "Just try to lie down and relax for a few minutes, Relena," he said. He pressed a hand to her forehead, then checked her pulse again with his watch. "Sit with her," Kyle instructed Heero, then he climbed down out of the ambulance.

Heero lost track of the time as he sat there, holding Relena's hand. After a while, her breathing slowed, and she just laid quietly on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. When he touched her face, she reacted, looking over at him. "Relena?" he asked.

"Yes?" Her voice sounded dry.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked. She shrugged her shoulders. Heero frowned. Through the open doors of the ambulance, he could see that the sun was beginning to rise, throwing long beams of early sunlight across the lawn. The sounds around the house were dwindling, and he could hear several cars startup and drive away. He could also see Wufei spraying down the grass where Munn's body had been lying, apparently trying to clean the grass.

Relena sat up after a while, and Heero helped her into the house. Duo followed, taking a spot on the couch and falling asleep almost right away. Relena led Heero up to her bedroom.

"I need to take a shower and burn these clothes," Relena said, pulling the bloody clothes from her body and tossing them on the ground in her bathroom. Heero gathered them up while Relena climbed into the shower and turned the water up as hot as it could go. Heero took the bloody clothes the steps and into her garage. He found a garbage can and dumped the clothes inside. He returned to Relena's bedroom and waited for her to finish the shower.

When she did finally step out of the shower, her skin was glowing pink and red from the hot water. She toweled off and twisted her hair up into a bun to get it off her back. She dressed in sweatpants and a loose t-shirt.

From down the steps, Heero could hear someone enter into the house. "Relena?" the voice of Sally called. Relena glanced at the steps and sighed. She picked herself up off her bed and walked down the steps. "Sorry to bother you, dear, but we need your statement."

"Yes, Sally," Relena said. Sally sat down with her at the dining room table and began to go over the night. Heero sat beside Relena, holding her hand while Relena recounted the night. When she reached the part where she told Cherry to attack, she looked like she might get upset again, but she swallowed the tears and fear and continued to speak. Sally continued to take notes while recording the conversation, prompting Relena for more information about the events when needed. Finally, Relena reached the end of the story, and let her head drop against her chest.

"Thank you, Relena. You've done great. We'll finish up here and get everyone off your lawn. Go get some sleep," Sally said.

"Okay," Relena said, and lifted her head back up. Heero rose and held a hand out to Relena. She placed her hand in his and he drew her against his chest, holding her tightly as Sally gathered up her things. Before Sally could leave, the front door opened and Quatre and Hilde stepped in, followed by a slightly limping Cherry, her head surrounded by a clear plastic cone. Relena's eyes brightened and she smiled, pulling away from Heero's arms and running to her dog.

"She had some cuts from his knife, but they've stitched her up and bandaged her. She'll need to return for a check up in a few days," Quatre explained as Relena dropped to her knees beside her dog. Cherry stepped into Relena's lap and licked her face.

"You saved my life Cherry," Relena said as she nuzzled the dog's fur. Sally slipped out while Relena was distracted. Hilde yawned and stepped to the couch where Duo was fast asleep. She curled up next to him and was soon asleep. Quatre chose the love seat and was too asleep in a few moments. Relena picked up Cherry in her arms and carried her up the steps to Relena's bedroom. Heero followed. The three of them curled up together in Relena's bed. Heero pulled Relena's face close to his and kissed her lightly on the lips. She stared at him through drooping eyelids.

"It's over. It's finally over..." she said just before she fell asleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Hiding Scars

Chapter 21

A/N: I think an epilogue will suffice to wrap this story up. I'll get to work on right away :-)

After a few days, the shock of the horror that took place in Relena's front yard began to wear off. The thought that Relena had facilitated the death of another human being, however, weighed heavily on her. Relena wanted to talk to Heero about it, but she assumed his response would be something along the lines of 'He was an evil man and will no longer be performing evil.' She tried to rationalize that to herself but found it difficult to truly accept.

To keep her mind occupied, Relena spent as much time as possible with her friends while she had the chance. Cherry wasn't up to taking long walks yet, so the recovering dog frequently stayed home, pouting about the constant presence of the cone around her neck.

One morning, Relena woke up early, before the sun had really began to peek over the horizon. Heero was sprawled out on the bed next to her, with Cherry curled up beside him. Relena smiled, then slipped off the bed to find her laptop. She unplugged it from where it was charging, and after making herself a cup of tea, ascended the stairs once more and climbed into bed. She rested the tea cup on the nightstand beside her and propped the laptop up on her legs. Relena lifted the lid and turned the laptop on.

She signed into her email account and began to browse through the messages that had come in. She found one from Molly with the subject line "Homes for Sale." Relena opened that message and began to click through the links Molly had given her. All the homes met the standards Relena had given Molly. Her desires and needs for a living space had changed drastically, and she no longer wanted a large home with too many places for someone to hide.

One link brought Relena to a home that struck a chord with her. It was a two-thousand square foot home, and appeared to be modeled after the beautiful Tudor Revival homes. The home was painted in different shades of blue. Relena clicked through the pictures and fell in love instantly. She hurriedly responded to the message and asked Molly to put a bid on the house right away. Feeling satisfied and giddy, Relena closed the laptop and ignored the rest of her emails. She stretched and snuggled back up to Heero, burying her face in his neck.

The last day of the festival arrived, dawning bright and sunny. Relena, Heero, Milly, Paul and the two children met up with Duo, Hilde and Quatre at the beach. The final day was arranged as an all-day, family friendly beach party. There were people everywhere, but the group managed to find a place to lay out their blankets, towels and their picnic lunch. Relena wasn't the only one who noticed that many people were openly staring at her, which prompted Heero to remain closely attached to her side.

The group ate the lunch that Relena and Milly had prepared, then most went off to try and swim in the ocean. Relena and Milly sat side by side on the blanket, watching the activity around them. Milly threw an arm around Relena's shoulders and pulled her into a side hug.

"I'm gonna miss you, Cass," she said, falling into the old nickname.

"I'm going to miss you, too, Milly," Relena replied, hugging her back around the waist.

"But I know you'll come visit, and I'll probably see you on TV all the time." Relena laughed.

"More than likely," she replied. The two women sat together for a long time, holding onto the life they'd known for four years, feeling afraid of change, but not willing to admit it.

Heero watched the two women for a moment, wondering about the emotions flitting around in their eyes. He made a silent promise that he would make sure Relena maintained a friendship with this woman that helped protect Relena for the last several years. Heero leaned back on his elbows and pulled his attention from the two women and stared out at the ocean. He could see Duo and Hilde wrestling in the water, and Quatre playing with Milly and Paul's children in the sand. Paul was nearby, conversing with a group of unfamiliar people. Any people were still staring at Relena as they walked by. Heero itched to press better security upon her, but he knew she'd resist. When she moved back to New Port City, her life would be hectic again, and he didn't want to do that to her yet.

Heero had been making plans for his return as well, but he hadn't informed Relena just yet. He was looking for places in the city, but he didn't know yet where she would be living. He'd already contacted the manager at his current apartment complex to let him know that Heero would be moving out at some date in the near future. He'd take up an active role in with the Preventers again, and try to become Relena's guard once more. Une, however, would not be sending him on any long trips away from Relena. He would never risk leaving her alone again, not after what she already endured.

A finger poked him in the ribs, and he pulled himself from his thoughts. Relena was looking at him, a smile on her lips.

"Daydreaming?" she asked playfully. Heero smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"Something like that," he said. Heero noticed that Milly had gotten up and joined Quatre and her children with building a sandcastle. Duo and Hilde had abandoned their splashing contest and were helping out as well by digging a moat around the castle.

"About what?" she inquired. Heero glanced back at her and brushed a wisp of hair off her forehead.

"The future," he said. Relena looked surprised.

"This is a new development," she said with an almost sarcastic tone of voice. He threw her a glare, but she only smiled at him. "The Heero I remember never thought about the future."

"Well that Heero didn't have anything to live for," he said, his voice low, but sincere. Relena's mocking expression evaporated from her face, and she stared at him. She reached up to touch his face.

"And tell me, new Heero, what do you have to live for now?" she asked, already knowing the answer, but feeling the desire to hear him say it out loud. Heero turned toward her slowly, reaching up to her face, his eyes soft.

"Some blonde chick with an attack dog," he said. Relena scoffed before she could stop herself. Heero pulled back and let out a laugh.

"You have been spending too much time around Duo," Relena declared. She rose from her spot on the blankets and was about to try and tackle him into the sand when he pulled her legs out from under her and she landed in his lap.

"Hey!" she cried out. Heero pulled her against his chest.

"You know that it is you. It's always you," he whispered in her ear. She instantly forgave him and turned towards him to kiss his cheek. "If it suits you," he continued. "I've been making plans to move back to Earth. I would like to resume my old position of being your guard."

"I'd like that," she said. Heero nodded. "You should uh-" she paused and looked away, a pink blush on her cheeks.

"What?" he asked.

"Sorry, I just have gotten so used to not having to filter everything I say," she said.

"You don't have to filter around me."

"I was just gonna say that the house I'm having Molly bid on for me has a few extra bedrooms, if you'd like to stay in one," she said, not meeting his eyes, the blush darkening to a red.

"If that is what you wish," he replied, his voice still in a whisper. Relena nodded her head. "Then yes, I will."

Relena knelt down in front of Cherry and began to remove the plastic cone from around her neck. The wounds had healed nicely and the stitches had been removed. Around Relena, her important belongings, such as clothes and her computer and other such items were being packed away by her friends. Once the plastic cone was removed, Cherry licked Relena's cheek and happily pranced away to investigate the activity in the home. Relena rose back up to her feet and looked around as well. She would be leaving most of her furniture and other belongings in the house, to be watched over by Milly and Paul. The rest would be shipped to the airport in the morning and loaded onto the President's shuttle, which he kindly lent to Relena to make the return trip to New Port City. The following day, she would part ways with Duo, Hilde and Quatre, and for a short time, Heero, until he put the rest of his affairs in order and relocated on Earth.

Relena heaved a nostalgic sigh and thought about all the changes that would be taking place rapidly. Her assistant Molly would be arriving as well, to make the return flight with Relena and help her catch up on some important matters that had been left since Relena disappeared. The Foreign Minister dumped Relena's hard drive from her old office computer into a laptop and sent it along with Molly for Relena to look through during the flight. So many plans from the last several weeks were finally coming together.

Relena was shaken out of her thoughts when Duo bounded up to her side. "I think that's everything, babe. Was there anything else you wanted to pack?" Relena took a piece of paper out of her pocket and checked it over.

"I think that was everything," she said. She looked around. Duo rested his arm around her shoulders.

"So you're really going through with everything, huh?" Duo asked. Relena nodded.

"I have been thinking about it a lot, and I think it's the right thing to do. I shouldn't keep my skills to myself; I should be sharing what I know and what I can do with the world." Duo glanced at her.

"It is not selfish if you just want to live your own life and not share it with the world," Duo said quietly.

"I had the chance to do that already, for the last four years. It was okay, but no matter what projects I threw myself in, nothing could make me feel as fulfilled as what I was doing before," Relena said. "I was meant to be in politics." Duo shrugged his shoulders and pulled Relena into a hug.

"As long as you're happy," he said, still a little skeptical, an unusual trait from Duo. Relena patted his arm.

"Of course."

A little while later, Milly and Paul knocked on Relena's front door. The group had been sitting around her living room, just talking. Relena let the couple in the house with a cheery, "Hi!"

"Hey! We just wanted to see if you guys wanted to come over for drinks and food," Milly said, with Paul nodding beside her. Relena looked around at her friends, who were nodding.

"Sure!" The group rose and followed Milly and Paul out the door, with Cherry loping behind. Milly led them up to the porch, and Relena was startled when many people yelled out "SURPRISE!"

Once Relena caught her breath, she saw that Milly and Paul's back porch was decorated in streamers and balloons, and all her neighbors were there, plastic champagne glasses in hand, and a giant streamer that read "WE'LL MISS YOU CASS!"

Relena clutched her hand to her chest, tears threatening to fall onto her cheeks. Milly and Paul swept her up into the party, her friends following behind.

"Oh, this is wonderful," she said. Milly and Paul kissed her cheeks and someone handed her a glass of champagne. "How did I not notice?" From behind her, Quatre laughed.

"We were in on it," he said. Relena turned to face him. "We kept you inside and away from that side of the house so they could set everything up." Relena smiled happily at him, and turned back. Someone turned on some upbeat music. There was a large cake sitting on one table, and many other dishes and desserts all around, and drinks everywhere.

"Guess I'm flying hung over!" Relena called, lifting her glass to the sky. The guests followed suit and everyone cheered.


	22. Epilogue

Hiding Scars

Epilogue

_Three Months Later..._

Relena sat in her first meeting with the E.S.U.N territory delegates and the colony was seated in the front of the several rows, watching the L1 delegate give an update on the state of the colony's economy and the welfare of the residents. Relena delicately took a sip of the tea sitting before her on the low desk, and casually shifted through the packet the L1 delegate had passed out prior to his presentation. Relena glanced to her left, and saw Heero still leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, head bowed and eyes closed. But Relena knew that he was awake and listening to the presentation. It was something he picked up during the last few months. He had this new desire to actually pay attention to Relena's meetings and her work, whether he truly understood everything or not. Relena thought it was sweet of him to put so much effort into helping her out with her transition. If he continued on this path of interest in her political life, then he could end up being a useful partner to have in the future, someone to bounce ideas off of and to help her edit and review her proposals.

Relena smiled to herself and lowered her eyes to the packet on the table once again. She gently laced her fingers together in her lap and continued to listen to the presentation.

"The strange thing that has been occurring lately on L1 has been a higher demand of personal firearms and large breed dogs. If I had to guess, I would say nearly half of the female population of the colony has applied for a concealed pistol license and there are orders pouring in from pawn shops and gun retailers to have 9 mm and higher pistols. Our retailers in this industry have been having trouble keeping up with the demand, causing the prices to rise significantly in a short time," the L1 delegate said, glancing occasionally at his note cards in his hands. Relena pursed her lips into a thin line and one side of her mouth curved in a grin. She kept her eyes lowered to the desk in front of her. She felt movement behind her as someone stood up in the second row.

"L3 has been having the same thing happen! We nearly have a dog breeding black market going on and many people have taken up offering dog training courses. There's been an explosion of various items that would fall under the category of personal defense," L3's delegate said from his spot behind Relena. A few of the other delegates murmured in agreement. Relena continued to remain silent, listening to the chatter around her. She glanced again at Heero, and he too, had a slight half smile on his lips.

Prior to her first meeting, Heero made her practice keeping her mouth shut when she had something to say. She'd grown too lax while living in the Americas, and had developed the habit of speaking exactly what was on her mind without filtering first. And now, listening to their wonder at the personal defense interest, Relena and to force back the words that were threatening to come flying out of her mouth.

_Do they really not realize...?_ Relena asked herself, her head shaking slightly.

"Miss Darlian?" the man beside her said. "Something on your mind?" Relena glanced up at the man and met his eyes. She swallowed to stop the laughter that threatened to bubble up. Past the man's head, Heero had opened his eyes and was watching the conversation intently. The attention of the other delegates in the room had all turned to Relena. Swiftly, she rose from her chair, her hands clasped in front of her, forcing her face into a demure expression.

"I believe, gentleman, that the reason this increase in personal defense has been affecting most individual territory economies is because of my announcement a few months ago." Relena looked up to see all the men staring at her, wide-eyed. A few began to slowly make the connection. Relena spread her hands out to her sides. "The people have learned that no matter how peaceful the overall state of the Earth and Colonies may be, there are still those who might hurt them on an individual level, and even sometimes- in their own home. This is a challenging situation that I plan to take on soon, in order to help keep the streets safer and more peaceful, to reflect the peace of the rest of the Earth and Colonies." With that, Relena slowly took her seat again, and took another sip of her tea. The men around her silently contemplated her words. Relena glanced once more at Heero, who had closed his eyes once more, that slight smile on his face. Her words met with his approval.

The meeting lasted well into the afternoon, and it was decided to resume the discussions the next day in the morning. Heero escorted Relena from the government building to her waiting car. Having to be chauffeured around was something she had lost a taste for, and she longed to take the wheel and speed down the road. Instead, she slipped into the backseat of the car, with Heero beside her, and the black sedan drove away and back towards Relena's home.

Using her phone, Relena checked her various emails that had come through while she was in the meeting. She had several from Molly on various topics. The girl was working extremely hard to help Relena get back up to speed with the current state of affairs. Relena smiled and replaced her phone in her purse, content to worry about responses the following morning.

She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. The warmth of Heero's hand settled on her own hand as he laced his fingers through hers and gave her a gentle squeeze. She returned the gesture, but nothing more, keeping their low profile from the Preventer who was currently driving the car back to Relena's home.

As she thought about the day, she allowed her mind to drift to her relaxing times in the Americas. It was something she'd discovered recently that helped her to calm her mind and relax her body. Reminiscing about the feeling of the sun beating down on her skin while she sunbathed on the beach, taking a long, hot shower after an intense run with Cherry, sitting at a bar drinking with her friends and chatting about nothing in particular helped her to forget the stress of the day. Those activities were things she'd never truly experienced before. She'd been so guarded as a child, and never experienced true relaxation, knowing her father could be in danger at any moment of any day. And any chance she had at experiencing teenage whims flew out the window the moment she pulled the helmet off the strange boy on the beach. The war came to her, pulled her in and didn't let her go for a long time. Immediately taking up the torch for her father after his death left her with little time for herself, and her only means of relaxation were occasional bubble baths when she wasn't too tired to actually take one.

But she had learned about true relaxation and true enjoyment of free time during her four years away from everything. And she promised herself that she would take regular vacations, work be damned, in order to maintain her sanity and her body's wellness.

Relena was pulled from her reverie by a poke in the ribs from Heero. She opened her eyes and sat up. He held his phone to her, showing her a news article that was posted on the web. The picture that headed the article was of Relena, her full back tattoo exposed along with the long, falsely red braid that hung down her back. Relena grinned.

"They're talking about me again?" she asked, taking the phone and reading through the article.

"You're causing a gossip rag field day by coming back with tattoos, red hair and a new outlook on life. People are scrambling to imitate you," Heero said, touching her cheek with his fingers. "They adore this new, carefree Relena Darlian." Relena smiled and handed the phone back to Heero once she'd finished reading the article.

"Let them. Our generation has been so tense for so long that some down time would be good for everyone," she said.

"The old Relena would never had said something like that," Heero commented, slightly sarcastic. Relena shrugged her shoulders.

"Old Relena was too boring," she said with a laugh. Heero shook his head.

"Old Relena was still sheltered, and while that wasn't a bad thing, you could only relate with people so far before you lost them. But now, with your self defense campaign and your new attitudes and beliefs, the general public will be able to relate to you even more than before. I can see you being even more successful than you would have been otherwise," Heero said. Relena raised an eyebrow.

"Talkative today?" He scowled. "I'm joking. Thank you Heero. That's sweet."

Before long, the car pulled up to Relena's home. Or rather, Relena and Heero's home. Sure, Relena had offered Heero a room of his own, but it became their shared office instead, him choosing to sleep at her side every night. Relena had worried he'd miss his own personal space, but so far, he'd indicated nothing of the sort.

Heero and Relena stepped out of the car and waved off the driver. The car pulled out of the driveway and the couple made their way up to the front door. From inside the house, they could hear Cherry barking, excited at their return. Relena was nearly barreled over when she opened the door, with Cherry attempting to lick her face. Relena and Heero took a moment together to greet the dog, before Cherry had enough and walked away to do something else. Heero and Relena grinned at each other and stepped inside, locking the front door behind them, and hand in hand, walked to the kitchen for their after-work tea.

**- The End**

**A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to all those who have stuck by and read and reviewed this fic. I really appreciate everyone! **

**And just for funzies, this is my relaxing, calm moment: Sitting beside the pool at the condos where I stayed at in Las Vegas, drinking a pitcher of Mojitos and reading a book, having absolutely no care in the world except which casino we would go to later that day. Bliss. **


End file.
